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Kyrgyzstan
Exploits Uighur Minority
Igor Grebenshchikov
Kyrgyztsan is suppressing Uigur
activities in the hope of winning
concessions from China. Against
formidable odds, the Uigur Muslim people displaced
from Eastern Turkestan by China some 50 years ago are
clinging to hopes of a return to their homeland and
escaping the inhospitable Central Asian republics
where they now unwillingly live.
The Uigur diaspora dates back to the
late 1940s when China got rid of Eastern
Turkestan and absorbed it into the Xinjiang autonomous
region. Tens of thousands of Uigur families then fled
to Soviet Central Asia.
The subsequent collapse of the Soviet
Union led Uigurs to hope that their homeland might
regain its independence. However, China not only
remained stable but swiftly established diplomatic
relations with all the newly independent Central Asian
republics.
The Central Asian governments of
Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan found the Uigurs a useful
tool in negotiations with Beijing.
In return for preventing them from
stirring up trouble for China, Kyrgyzstan and
Kazakstan sought to extract concessions from Beijing
on other issues.
The Uigur case has not helped by
disarray within its own ranks. Apart from the main
Uigur society "Ittipak" (Unity), several other
non-related Uigur organizations also operate in
Kyrgyzstan.
Three of them have aspirations to be
sole representatives of the Uigur diaspora. These are:
Uigur Association of Kyrgyzstan, the Bishkek human
rights organization "Democracy" and the Uigur
information center "Erpan".
Fragmentation of the Uigur movement
sprang partly from conflict of interests between the
intelligentsia and entrepreneurs.
The former accused the latter of putting
moneymaking ahead of national liberation. And the
latter scoffed at the former for pursuing unrealistic
goals which would not be supported by ordinary people.
So far all Uigur attempts to wield
greater influence in Kyrgyzstan have failed. There are
no Uigur representatives in parliament or other major
institutions.
Analysts believe the community is being
deliberately barred from positions of power for fear
of alienating China.
Common religious and linguistic ties
with the indigenous Kyrgyz population open few doors
for the Uigurs. Their economic successes are limited
to small cross-border businesses.
Integration between Uigurs and Kyrgyz is
even rarer. Intermarriage is almost non-existent.
With large numbers of Russians now
leaving Kyrgyzstan, experts think Uigurs could become
the third largest national group in the counry after
Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, with a resulting increase in their
influence. Uigurs themselves are more doubtul.
To date, efforts by the Uigurs to mount
anti-Chinese propaganda have been severely curbed. At
the start of the 1990s, they tried to hold rallies in
front of the Chinese embassy in Bishkek but this was
soon banned.
The only outlet left for protests was in
two small-circulation monthly Uigur publications, "Ittipak"
and "Vijan Avazi" (Voice of Conscience), with
circulations of 1,000 and 500 respectively.
The Chinese embassy tried to have these
publications squashed but soon realised that hardly
anyone was reading them.
The Kyrgyz authorities have branded the
Uigurs as Muslim extremists, as they are far more
religious than Kyrgyz and Kazaks.
The secret service has begun looking for
a connection between Uigurs and the underground
Islamic organization "Khizb-ut-Takhrir".
On March 12, 2001, Chinese citizens of
Uigur origin were convicted of terrorist acts in the
Osh region of Kyrgyzstan. Bakhramjan Alimov and Askar
Tokhti were sentenced to death, Ali Mansum was given a
25-year prison term.
The prosecution said they were members
of an international terrorist organization which
operates in Chechnya and Xinjiang.
Their objective, the prosecution said,
was to provoke Kyrgyz-Uzbek clashes and to create
instability in the regions of Kyrgyzstan bordering
China. The defence counsel dismissed the charges as
groundless.
The Uigur diaspora, meanwhile, accused
the Chinese secret service of assassinating one of its
former leaders, Nigmat Basakov. Kyrgyz police say
Bazakov was killed by Uigur separatists from Xinjiang
because he refused to give them money.
Another theory is that Bazakov died as a
result of business rivalries between Uigurs.
By suppressing Uigur activities in
Kyrgyzstan, President Akaev hopes to persuade China to
soften its stand in territorial disputes along the
river Chon-Uzengukuush and the Kyrgyz border
settlements of Erkeshtam and Nuru.
So far this ploy has met with only
limited success. But sources in the Kyrgyzstan foreign
ministry still believe that the "Uigur issue" is a
useful bargaining tool in dealings with China.
They may need it. Uigurs claim that
China has even larger claims on territories deep
inside Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan.
Igor Grebenshchikov is a regular IWPR
contributor
Copyright (c) IWPR 2001
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