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Uyghur Initiative Papers

No. 11

December 2014

The influence of intellectuals of the

th first half of the 20 century on Uyghur politics

Nabijan Tursun

In the first half of the 20th century, as a result of the Uyghur education The opinions expressed here are movement that spread across Eastern Turkistan, a new understanding and those of the author only and do national consciousness started to develop among . Uyghur intellec- not represent the Central Asia tuals trained abroad, along with the intellectuals from different countries, Program. played a prominent role in the development of nationalism in this period. These Uyghur intellectuals included both those in Eastern Turkistan and Uyghur intellectuals in diaspora. The emergence and development of the Uyghur intellectual class in this period took place in accordance with the dispersion of Uyghurs across three different geographical regions: Eastern Turkistan; Central Asia and ; and and the Middle East.1

The rise of the Uyghur education movement played a significant role in the emergence of the Uyghur intellectual class. The Uyghur education movement, which started in the 1920s and 1930s, was shaped and mobilized by three groups within Uyghur society.

The first group consisted of businessmen and merchants who traveled abroad and saw the development of neighboring nations. They include the Musabay brothers’ family, the Muhiti brothers, Tash Ahunum, and others. They built schools and funded these schools with their own resources, thereby assuring the continued existence and expansion of these schools.

Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014

The second group was made up of intellectuals national independence movement that aimed to who were trained abroad. The representatives of construct Uyghur national identity and establish this group included Mesut Sabiri, Memet Eli Uyghur statehood. It achieved its first accom- Tewpiq, Tursun Efendi, Qutluq Shewqi, and the plishments in two different times. National sov- founders of Ili educational associations, includ- ereignty with self-determination was established ing Merup Seidi, Teyiphaji Sabitof, and other in on November 12, 1933, and in Ghulja intellectuals that had returned to East Turkistan on November 12, 1944. In this nationalist from the Soviet Russia before 1932. movement and in various independence strug- gles, Uyghur intellectuals played an active and The third group comprised religious scholars significant role. who were part of the movement. Figures from this group include Abdulqadir Damolla, Of course, the members of the Uyghur intellectu- Sabit Damolla, Abdukerimhan Mehsum, al class of this period were deeply influenced by Shemsidin Damolla, and Muhemmed Imin ideological struggles and opinions of the coun- Bughra. tries that they were trained in. They applied the principles of the ideological movements and In the 1930s and 1940s, a significant number of strategies of political struggles they saw else- Uyghur intellectuals emerged as a result of the where to the national independence struggle of advancement of Uyghur education. Central Asia the Uyghur people. The external ideologies that became a major resource for Uyghur intellectuals, they encountered or they accepted were directly and the number of intellectuals who were related to the Uyghur political struggle in the trained in different fields of the arts and sciences first half of the 20th century, to the principles of in universities in this region increased, and the sovereignty of the two Eastern Turkistan Repub- standards of scientific endeavor advanced. lics, and to their state ideologies and goals.

Between 1934 and 1937, Shicai sent more In my opinion, it is possible to make a tripartite than around 400 students to the Central Asian classification of the ideological sources and phil- University in and to other colleges in osophical trends of the Uyghur intellectual class Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as a result of pres- in the first half of the 20th century. sures from the national independence movement and the support of the .2 He also 1. Ideals for establishing an independent Turkic built high schools, teacher-training schools, and republic based on Turkic nationalism and Islam as the Institute in Ürümchi, and he estab- the official state religion. lished the Union of Cultural Development for all the ethnic groups of the province. The Union of The source of this idea was the awakening and Uyghur Cultural Development was the biggest blossoming of Islamism in the Muslim world, cultural organization in Xinjiang and included including northern and western Asia, calls for 1883 schools with 180 thousand students.3 independence there, and the goals of establishing independent states by bringing together the Various associations took action in the field of Turkic nations, and the Idil-Ural Turkic people of education. In this period, a generation of Uyghur Eurasia. intellectuals, with university or high school de- grees, was cultivated. These intellectuals played The representatives of this ideological trend in- the role of promoters, organizers, and leaders of cluded Uyghurs, , Kyrgyz, and intellectu- a broad-based political movement in the 1930s als from other groups who actively participated and 1940s. in the nationalist revolts of 1933 and 1934. They played important roles in establishing and lead- In this paper, I focus on the role of Uyghur intel- ing the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Republic, oc- lectuals in the political life of the Uyghurs in this cupying prominent posts in the government. period and explains their basic ideas. In the Among them were intellectuals who had visited 1930s and 1940s, the Uyghur nationalist move- Istanbul, Cairo, Bombay, Kabul, Kazan, Bukhara, ment increased its strength, transforming into a Tashkent, and other cities, were trained in the

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014 universities in these cities, and went back to this congress.8 The Kashgher Millet Mejlisi (Kash- their own homelands, with the aim of launching gar People’s Congress) had the military and ad- an education movement and of strengthening ministrative authority to decide government political and national identity in Eastern Turki- policy and to appoint certain high-ranking offi- stan. cials. The Congress tried to avoid the old Chinese system. Several progressive Uyghur religious scholars, including Abduqadir Damolla, Muhemmed Imin The Association of Independence was a corner- Bughra, Sabit Damolla, Abdulla Damolla, stone of the East Turkistan Republic and actively Shemsidin Damolla, and Qutluq Haji Shewqi, tried to unite all the guerrilla groups while pre- were not only the leaders of the reform and edu- paring the political and nationalist foundations cation movements among Uyghurs. They also for an independent state. aimed to promote and carry out principles based on republicanism and national independence. Some of the Uyghur and Uzbek intellectuals in Almost all of them had lived for long periods in Kashgar and opinion leaders with Jadidist and Muslim countries, including Turkey, and in a pro-independence ideals, as well as political fig- number of cases they were also educated in ures who participated in the political events in these countries. They were thus influenced by Central Asia of the 1920s and 1930s—especially the ideological trends in these countries and those involved in the activities of the Shurai- tried to apply these ideas to the political life and Islamiye Organization—took part in the Autono- destiny of the Uyghurs. mous Government of Turkistan, engaging in pro- independence movements which were later la- Although these religious scholars, under the beled as basmachi and condemned by the Soviet leadership of Sabit Damolla, aimed to synthesize Union.9 Some of the participants in the Associa- Islamic and Republican ideals, their main aims tion of Independence were familiar with Turkic were to establish a state with national character- national state ideology and the Soviet–Russian istics and to bring under one rule Uyghurs, Kyr- state administrative system in Central Asia gyz, Kazakh, Uzbek, and other Turkic nations. through their experiences with the Turkistan The "Association of Independence," which was Autonomous Government in Kokand. founded in 1933 in Kashgar,4 took the organiza- tions of the "Young Bukharanias"5 and "Young The "formal" beginning of the "Basmachi" Khivans,"6 which had existed in Central Asia at movement is usually associated with the Tsarist the beginning of the 20th century, as a model. Imperial Decree of June 25, 1916, which ordered the first non-voluntary recruitment of Central Most of the participants in this political organiza- Asians into the army during the First World tion in Kashgar were Uyghur intellectuals, reli- War.10 The movement was a reaction not only to gious scholars, and businessmen. The association conscription, but to the Russian conquest itself endorsed republican ideals and attempted to and the policies employed by the tsarist state in rule Kashgar with a republican regime. Some Western Turkistan. After communists destroyed Uzbek representatives, who struggled against the Turkistan Autonomous Government in the Soviet rule and the Bolsheviks in the Ferghana Ferghana Valley, the struggle of Muslims of Valley, relocated to Kashgar and also joined this Western Turkistan against communists not only organization.7 continued, but escalated in intensity. The strug- gle continued under various methods well into After May 1933, when Kashgar was under rebel the 1930s. control, the Association of Independence actively offered programs about the republican system of Participants in anti-Soviet, anti-Russian national government in Kashgar and created the first par- liberation movements, such as Setiwaldijan, liament in East Turkistan – Kashgher Millet Mejli- Yusufjan, Sofizade, Chipaq Ghazi, Janibek, and si. All members of the Association and represent- many others, had escaped to Kashgar in the atives of local intellectual, religious, business and 1920s and 1930s. They not only participated in agricultural circles in Kashgar participated in the national liberation movements and actively

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014 supported and participated in establishing the sent to Kashgar by the Turkish Youth Union in Eastern Turkistan Republic in Kashgar but also the fall of 1933.16 These intellectuals actively took charge in leadership positions in the gov- participated in various projects in this short- ernment. lived republic and in the enlightenment move- ment in the Kashgar-Artush region, until the re- Religious scholars who, under the leadership of pression by in 1937-1938. Most of Sabit Damolla, had lived or were trained in Mus- them were killed by Sheng. lim countries, played an important role, along- side Uyghur intellectuals, in the establishment of According to James A. Millward’s analysis, a high the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Republic. Sabit percentage of the ETR leaders were educators or Damolla, who was educated in Turkey, Egypt, rich merchants from Kashgar-Artush area, and and India, was a politician trained in religion and had been associated with the Uyghur enlighten- the natural sciences, who also had clear political ment movement of the 1910-1920s.17 Among the viewpoints, a keen understanding of domestic sixteen members of the cabinet, ten of the minis- and foreign policy, and who had knowledge of ters were intellectuals who had lived abroad for political science.11 He brought together the intel- long periods and who were educated in these lectuals of Kashgar to form the association for countries. Prime Minister Sabit Damolla traveled independence and, later, the government of the to and was educated in Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Eastern Turkistan Republic itself.12 Arabia, the Soviet Union, and India.18 Sabit Da- molla was also a teacher at the Karakash New 2. Intellectual Component of East Turkistan Islam- Islamic School and therefore a supporter of Mus- ic Republic lim education reform. In addition to his status as a religious authority, Sabit had recently returned On November 12, 1933, the people of the Kash- from the Hajj in 1933 and was heavily influenced gar established the East Turkistan Republic with by Islamic reform movements during his Kashgar as its capital. The Establishment of new journey through India, Egypt and Turkey.19 republic was an event of great historical moment His personal secretary, Telet Musabay, was in development of .13 The trained in Istanbul and .20 The secretary new republic had all the trappings of a modern for foreign affairs of ETR, Kasimjan Haji, was state, such as a constitution, flag, legal system, educated in India. and government institutions,14 and its institu- tions were influenced by those of Mustafa Kamal The secretary for internal affairs, Yunusbeg Sey- Ataturk’s Turkey. This influence was due to the idzade, graduated from Xinjiang's Russian Lan- fact that some Turkish intellectuals, such as guage College for Politics and Law, where the Mahmut Nadimbeg and others who came from primary language of education was Russian. He Turkey, played an important role in the organiz- was the first Uyghur intellectual to be educated ing of the Republican state system. They partici- in the first Xinjiang provincial college, estab- pated in all events, including the ceremony for lished by , a Xinjiang . The pledging the establishment of the republic, in secretary of religious affairs, Shemsidin Damolla, discussions on the state flag and state anthem, was formerly a teacher in the Artush school and and in the inauguration of the announcement of had received religious education in Central Asia. a republic.15 He was one of the progressive participants in Kashgar’s modern education program provided The new republic tried to establish diplomatic by Turkish educationalist Ahmet Kamal in the relations with a range of countries such as the 1910s.21 The secretary of education, Abdukerim- Soviet Union, Turkey, Great Britain, and Afghani- han Mehsum, lived and was trained in Soviet stan, and to obtain assistance from them. Uyghur Russia and participated in the Uyghur nationalist sources indicate that another eleven Uyghurs movement there in 1919-1920.22 and another Turkish intellectual also took part, including the famous education leader Memet Eli Obul Hesen Haji, who was appointed as the sec- Tewpiq, who was originally from Artush, re- retary of trade and agriculture for the republic, ceived a higher education in Turkey, and was had lived and traded for more than 20 years in

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014

Tashkent, Ufa, St. Petersburg, and Moscow, and and Egypt, became the president of the Eastern was also educated in the latter city.23 He was the Turkistan Publishing House and chief editor of younger brother of the industrialists and educa- newspapers.28 The ETR printing office cooperat- tionalists, known as the Musabay brothers, who ed with the Swedish press in Kashgar and pub- founded the first jadidist schools in the Kashgar- lished the newspaper Sherqiy Türkistan Hayati Artush area and a technical training school in (The Life of East Turkistan), Erkin Turkistan (Free Ghulja. Four Uzbek ministers of the republic, Turkistan), and Yéngi Hayat (New Life).29The including the secretary of justice, Zerip Qari Haji, Uzbek intellectual, Sofizade, who was editor-in- the secretary of health, Abdulla Xani, the secre- chief of the monthly magazine Istiqlal (Independ- tary of military affairs, Sultanbek, and the chief of ence), was trained in Western Turkistan. Later he central command headquarters, Yusufjan, were became the assistant minister of religious affairs all educated men from Russian Turkistan.24 and general secretary of the republic.30 More than twenty Uzbek immigrant intellectuals who Although the president of the republic, Hoja Ni- had studied in Western Turkistan (the Russian yaz Haji, and the chief of military affairs, Mahmut Turkistan region) served in different administra- Muhiti, were not highly educated, they had lived tive positions in the Republic.31 for many years in Russia and had a broad knowledge of contemporary issues. Hoja Niyaz Intellectuals from a diverse range of back- Haji escaped to Ili in 1912 after the Timur upris- grounds also played important roles in drafting ing in Qumul (), and then escaped to Rus- the constitution of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic sian territory, and served in the Tsarist Russian Republic and in writing up the declaration of army in the First World War. Mahmut Muhiti, state, and other related state programs. They was an activist in the Uyghur enlighten- were also influential in the establishment of dip- ment movement and the younger brother of a lomatic relations in a very short period of time Uyghur merchant and educational leader Mehsut and in the diplomatic activities of the repub- Muhiti.25 After the collapse of the ETR, he be- lic. These nationalist Uyghur intellectuals, by came lieutenant general and chief of the 6th cav- paying attention to the political, social, economic, alry division in the Xinjiang provincial army un- and cultural situation of Eastern Turkistan in the der the Sheng Shicai government. He also was a 1930s, and by taking into consideration different supporter of the Uyghur cultural-education factors, including its external relations, followed movement and of the development of Uyghur a path of cooperation with all groups and powers nationalism in the Kashgar-Artush region. Me- that wanted and supported the land’s independ- met Eli Tewpiq, who graduated from college in ence. Istanbul with the strong support of Mahmut Mu- hiti in 1934-1937, started a new educational 3. The movement of national republicanism fol- trend in the Uyghur enlightenment movement. lowing the model of the Soviet Union. He opened 24 European-style elementary schools and teacher training schools in the Kash- Among the members of the Uyghur intellectual gar-Artush area26 and educated young students class in 1930s and 1940s, in addition to the peo- about Uyghur nationalism and ideologies of en- ple mentioned above, there was a group of intel- lightenment.27 lectuals who were influenced by the national republican ideas of the Soviet Union. When we look at the structure of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Republic, in addition to the The policies of the Soviet Union to divide the ministers stated above, most of their associates Muslim Turkic people of Central Asia and the and aides were Uyghur and Uzbek intellectuals, Caucasus along ethnic borders and guide them to who were also knowledgeable about the Middle separate national republics started in 1924 and East and Central Asia. For instance, Musa Ependi, resulted in the formation of the republics of Uz- who had studied medicine in Fergana, presided bekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, over the first hospital in Kashgar, and the Organ- Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan. This prompted a de- ization of the Red Crescent. A Uyghur intellectual, sire to establish a national republic among Uy- Qutluq Haji Shewqi, who had studied in Turkey ghurs, as well. In addition, many of the important

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014 and high-level members of the Uyghur intellec- tual class in the first half of the previous century After the success of the Bolshevik Revolution in had been in Central Asian republics. As a result Russia and the establishment of ethnically de- of the ethnic policies of Soviet Russia, in the fined socialist republics in the former Tsarist 1920s and 1930s a high number of Uyghur Turkestan, teachers, and publications imported youths went to universities in Russian cities, to Xinjiang reflected an outlook that was both including Moscow, Leningrad, Kazan, Baku, Sa- influenced by communism and more strongly marqand, and Almaty, where they received ad- nationalistic.35 vanced degrees. In the year of 1923 alone, more than 500 Uyghur students received education in Many of the Uyghur intellectuals in leadership Moscow, Leningrad, and other universities in positions within these organizations, including Soviet Russia.32 Abdulla Rozibaqiyev, Ismail Tahirov, Burhan Qasimov, Abdulhey Muhemmedi and Nezerghoja The idea of a national liberation movement was Abdusemetov, Ershidin Hidayetov, and others, propagated as far back as the Congress of the aimed to sustain the independence of the Uy- Revolutionary Uyghur Union in Tashkent in 1921. ghurs and to form an independent Uyghuristan. This was the first time that Uyghur intellectuals In the Tashkent congress, which was held on and nationalists from Eastern and Western Tur- June 3, 1921, they decided to use the name "Uy- kistan came together to establish an organization ghur" to replace the former "" and with a political program in order to provide for "Kashgars" parties36. At the same time, they national liberation in the future. agreed on using the Ili dialect as the standard for modern Uyghur. For Abdulla Rozibaqiyev, a leader of the Uyghurs in Central Asia, the purpose of the congress was According to their aims, an independent Uyghu- to train volunteers for the upcoming revolution ristan would naturally become a socialist inde- in Xinjiang, and to educate people politically so pendent national republic, similar to other re- that they could overthrow the Chinese occupiers publics in . Some of activists in and their local supporters. The national and po- Turpan, Kashgar, and Ili who went to Soviet Rus- litical awakening of the Uyghurs in Central Asia sia and were connected with the Uyghur move- resulted in their participation in the struggle to ment accepted the idea of an independent Uy- overthrow Chinese control and establish an in- ghuristan and Uyghur nationalist ideals. Poet dependent country in their motherland. They Abduxaliq, who was educated in Russia, adopted sent many members to Xinjiang on a mission to the term Uyghur and used it as his pen name— get involved in underground political activities.33 Abduxaliq Uyghur. He called his people the Uy- ghurs and rallied them to fight against Chinese Even the Third International and the Turkistan rule and obtain freedom.37 Abduxaliq was also Communist Party introduced the idea of an inde- among the from indigenous Xinjiang Turkic pendent republic in the Xinjiang region. The Cen- thinkers to ponder on Uyghur national interest38 . tral Committee of the Bolshevik Party, under Lenin’s leadership, considered the idea of form- The idea of establishing Uyghuristan became ing two republics, Kashgaria and Junggharia, as part of an official revolutionary movement suggested by Latvian communist, Janis among the Uyghur people, as demonstrated by Rudzutaks, then chairman of the Turkistan events at the Congress of Tashkent. The idea of Commission and of the Central Asia bureau of Uyghuristan was not just an ideology promoted the Central Committee of the All-Russia Com- by politicians. It also turned out to be one of the munist Party, but the Central Committee of the most important political ideals promoted by in- Bolshevik Party ultimately rejected the pro- tellectuals, writers, and poets. posal.34 Later, however, the Moscow government and the Third International sent some clandes- After the collapse of the and the tine agents to Xinjiang, and continued to investi- period of Chinese warlord control over Xinjiang, gate ways to foster a national liberation move- several factors played an important role in the ment. formation of Uyghur nationalism and political

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014 identity, and of the Uyghurs’ fight for self- their guidance, Sheng Shicai divided Xinjiang’s determination and political rights. Ethnic op- population into fourteen ethnic groups. At the pression by Chinese and especially same time, he refused to recognize the Uyghurs their discriminatory policies toward the Uyghurs or other ethnic groups any national autonomy or should be mentioned when addressing the for- political rights, and suppressed their national mation of Uyghur nationalism. That the op- aspirations, including demands for a Soviet-style pressed came together as a group to protect republic. During the period of Sheng Shicai’s con- themselves and fight for self-rule was a natural trol, some Uyghur leaders and intellectuals of the consequence of this oppression. Indeed, during ETR believed that, with Soviet military, political, the years 1931-33, all the towns and cities in and economic support, Sheng Shicai promises were up in arms against Chinese would be realized and that they could participate rulers. The culmination of those rebellions was in the provincial government. the declaration of the establishment the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan on November 12, The Soviet Union did not allow the formation of 1933. The establishment of the East Turkistan an independent state by the Uyghurs in the Islamic Republic was evidence of the formal 1930s42, but between 1934 and 1942, it sent birth of Uyghur nationalism and the realization experts and advisors to help the Xinjiang gov- of Uyghur national aspirations. Through the ernment in the fields of education, service, secu- founding of this independent republic, the Uy- rity, science and technology, and the military. ghurs asserted their distinct national identity Uyghur intellectuals were among these advisors. and showed their determination to control their The Soviet Union also sent Uyghur intellectuals own destiny. to Xinjiang in other overt, as well as covert, ways, and these people engaged in propaganda activi- In the beginning, the new republic was named ties among the people. Sheng also promoted pub- the Republic of Uyghuristan, and it minted its lications and education in languages other than first copper coins in the name of the “Republic of Chinese, although, as in the Soviet Union, the Uyghuristan.”39 Later on, the name was changed main intent of the literacy program was to ex- to the Republic of East Turkistan.40 The short- tend the reach of propaganda. He promoted agri- lived Republic of East Turkistan (1933-1934) cultural recovery, and constructed schools, established and spread its own political platform roads, and medical facilities.43 Sheng’s rule had and educational and socio-economic policies. It strong overtones of Chinese chauvinism, trigger- also established its own publishing house, which ing a new wave of nationalism among Uyghurs. published newspapers, textbooks, and journals that freely spread nationalist ideology. Uyghur As declared in a report by the Central Asian Mili- intellectuals in this period played an important tary District’s intelligence division in the Soviet role in the formation and strengthening of Uy- Union about the situation Xinjiang Province in ghur nationalism with the goal of achieving an December 1935: “Meanwhile the Uyghur nation- independent state outside Chinese control. alist movement is growing. The idea of an inde- pendent Uyghuristan continues to occupy an As the idea of a free Uyghuristan became the important place in the minds of Uighur leaders, main goal of the national independence move- even those who are adherents of Urpra44… In ment, Uyghur intellectuals and writers, through spite of an increase in pay, the army receives their own works, tried to bring together the peo- paltry supplies.”45 ple under that ideology, inviting them to join a common struggle for Uyghuristan. The theme of The Soviet Union benefited from the Uyghur in- Uyghuristan was one of the most significant top- tellectual class in accordance with its own inter- ics of Uyghur literature in the first years of Soviet ests, and by helping them it managed to reach its Russia, and almost all Uyghur writers and poets goals of spreading Soviet influence and promot- wrote on this subject41. ing the national ideas of Lenin and Stalin in par- ticular. The main propagandists for these views From 1933 to 1943, Sheng Shicai ruled Xinjiang were either Uyghurs from the Soviet Union or with an iron fist. On Soviet advice and under

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Uyghurs from Eastern Turkistan who had stud- ied or lived in the Soviet Union. The ETR established various social and educa- tion organizations such as a women’s association, Between 1934 and 1942, the Soviet Union was a veterans’ foundation, and schools for orphans. able to penetrate Xinjiang in the fields of culture Women from Muslim and non-Muslim ethnic and education, science and technology, and ide- groups participated in military, government, ology, and included this region in its own sphere education, and work structures equally with men. of influence. Reciprocally, the influence of the The goal of the state’s battle was not to establish Soviet Union among Uyghurs, especially among an independent Islamic religious state but to Uyghur intellectuals, further increased. The de- develop and learn from European modern cul- sire of the Uyghurs to compare themselves with ture, including the culture of the Soviet Union. neighboring Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and other republics, and their will- The state held close relations with Uyghurs in ingness to have the right to establish the Repub- the Soviet Union. The population of East Turki- lic of Uyghuristan was strengthened. stan long had close ethnic, cultural, and econom- ic ties with the Soviet Central Asian Republics, 4. Intellectual component of Second East Turki- and Soviet influence had been strong among the stan Republic local people of East Turkistan. Russian-Soviet culture exerted a dominant influence among the Between 1944 and 1949, a second national inde- local population, via the Russian, Tatar, Uzbek, pendence movement was launched in Xinjiang and Uyghur populations that had migrated from province. On November 12, 1944, the Eastern Soviet Russia in the early 1920s and 1930s. Im- Turkistan Republic was founded in Ghulja. Uy- migrant intellectuals and intellectuals who had ghur sources officially called it Sherqiy Türkistan spent time in the Soviet Union constituted the Jumhuriyiti or Azat Sherqiy Türkistan Jumhuriyiti majority of the ruling class of the Eastern Turki- (The Liberated East Turkistan Republic).46 In stan Republic. Almost all of them were influ- Russian, it was called Vostochno-Turkestanskaya enced by the Soviet Union, and most of them Respublika, abbreviated to VTR. 47 Chinese were under the influence of ideals of national sources called this republic Dong Tuerqisitan republicanism and self–determination for ethnic Renmin Gonghegu (East Turkestan Peoples Re- groups. public), 48 or the Dong Tuerqisitan Gongheguo (East Turkistan Republic).49 The first members of the government and the cabinet of the republic were, just like in the first Between that time and the end of 1949, the gov- Eastern Turkistan Republic, the people who ernment of this republic liberated the three dis- stayed or studied abroad, especially those who tricts of Altay, Tarbaghatay, and Ili, and formed were trained in Soviet Russia. The president of an independent state in this region. Uyghur intel- the republic, Elihan Töre, had lived in Soviet lectuals again played a leadership role during the Russia until the 1930s and achieved advanced five-year history of the Eastern Turkistan gov- levels of religious education in places like Bukha- ernment and during the political struggles for ra and Saudi Arabia. He thus had a broad national independence for Uyghurs in the 1940s. knowledge of religious studies and of the natural sciences, as well as good rhetorical skills.51 He The ETR government announced a nine-point shared many of the same ideas with the intellec- declaration that, prepared by Uyghur intellectual tuals who had attempted to establish an inde- Ehmetjan Qasimi and others on January 5, 1945, pendent Eastern Turkistan Republic in the 1930s. established the ETR as an independent republic that would treat all religions and peoples equally A member of the government and the secretary by embracing democracy and rejecting totalitari- of health, Qasimjan Qembiri, had graduated from anism. The new republic called for the develop- the college for nationalities in Tashkent.52 The ment of education, technology, communications, secretary of education, Hebib Yunuchi, had stud- industry, social welfare, and a free health care ied in universities in Russia, Turkey, and Germa- system.50 ny.53 His aide, who later became secretary of

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014 education, Seyfidin Ezizi, had graduated from cow, as well as graduates of the Central Asian Central Asian University of Tashkent.54 The sec- University of Tashkent, including, Seyfidin Ezizi, retary of propaganda and member of the gov- Ablimit Hajiyof, and Ibrahim Turdi graduated ernment, Abdukerim Abbasof, had graduated from Samarkand Agricultural College.57 Almost from the Xinjiang Institute in Ürümchi. The sec- all the leaders in all departments of the “Union” retary of the treasury, Enwer Musabayof, had had been educated in the Soviet Union, or in studied in Turkey.55 The assistant secretary of Urumchi and in Ghulja. In the various city and the treasury, Waqqas Mirshanof, had received town branches of this organization, and in its his higher education in Germany. The secretary military committees, intellectuals formed a ma- of military affairs and assistant general secretary, jority. famous leader of the Ili government Ehmetjan Qasimi, was trained in Moscow and had a PhD in These intellectuals had common viewpoints history, thus taking his place as one of the first about issues such as the future of Eastern Turki- scholars with a PhD among Uyghurs.56 stan and its self-determination, and they hoped that if independence were impossible, they could Among the people who organized the liberation nonetheless follow the Soviet Union as an allied movement in Tarbaghatay were Ablimit Hajiyof, republic with equal rights. who had graduated from the Central Asian Uni- versity of Tashkent, and other intellectuals who The next leader of the Ili government, Ehmetjan had graduated from the Xinjiang Institute and Qasimi, who was a modern intellectual, had from the Military School in Ürümchi. broad knowledge and a good understanding of the international system and of regional political In addition, many intellectuals served in leader- issues. He supported the national republican ship positions within the different ministries of ideas of the Soviet Union. These two leaders gave the republic, as well as in newspapers, in the Ili importance to the role of intellectuals and Gymnasium, and in other positions. Many of brought those intellectuals into their fold. They them had graduated from schools including the appointed these intellectuals to leadership posi- Central Asian University of Tashkent, the Ili tions in their governments. The republican gov- Gymnasium of Ghulja, Xinjiang Institute of ernment, under the leadership of Elihan Töre, Ürümchi, and various teaching academies. Al- mentioned in its nine-point declaration of state- most all the intellectuals centered in Ili, Chochek, hood that the republic aimed to provide progress and Altay worked in the Eastern Turkistan Gov- in the fields of culture, education, health, the arts, ernment as its employees. and other fields.

In the final years of the Ili government, especially The ETR had a secular and multi-ethnic state between 1947 and 1949, the higher echelons of system.58 This republic brought together groups the government leadership consisted of intellec- of different religious beliefs, diverse ethnicities, tuals who had been trained in the Soviet Union. and socio-economic backgrounds, including Uy- When the “Union for the Protection of Democra- ghur, Kazakh, Mongghul, Hui, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, cy and Peace” was formed in August 1948 in or- Shibo, and Russian. It protected the rights of der to lead the national liberation movement in these groups and provided for their unity, and it all of Xinjiang province, the central committee of determined accurate policies and strategies in the “Union” had 35 members, most of them intel- order to defeat the powerful and common enemy. lectuals. The Central Leadership-Organizing Committee of the Union had eleven members During its five years, the Ili government devoted from five ethnic groups, and ten of them were the state budget to multi-language education and educated in the Soviet Union. They included published eleven newspapers and five magazines Ehmetjan Qasimi (president), who had a PhD in in five languages. News organs and the press in history from Moscow, Is’haqbek Munonof (com- Ürümchi and Ili embarked upon a propaganda mander -in–chief), who had studied in Osh and war, each side accusing the other bad faith.59 Frunze, Esihet Is’haqof, Enwerhan Baba, and Newspapers like "Revolutionary East Turkistan," Uyghur Sayrani, all of whom had studied in Mos- the journal for Uyghur youth "The Struggle,"

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"The Union" and others were busy propagating the successes of the Soviet style governance in From its first day in office, the government of the the fields of education, culture, economy and Eastern Turkistan Republic also attached im- bringing up constantly the questions of the eth- portance to the training of military officers. Be- nic national questions, the national liberation tween February 1945 and 1949, it established and self-determination and questions of interna- basic and mid-level institutes to train military tional politics. Newspapers and magazines in the offices in different regions, including in Qorghas, territory of the ETR played an important role for in Mongghulküre, and in Shixo. Between 1946 the development of culture and the political un- and 1949, the command headquarters of the derstanding of the people. The ideas and princi- national army established a national army mili- ples of self-determination, the victory of Soviet tary academy in Ghulja and trained three genera- style ethnicities policies, the policies of the Uy- tions of mid-level officers.61 The military acade- ghur national liberation movement and alike my of the national army was a complete military were discussed by leading intellectuals like institute, and its curriculum was taken from the Ehmetjan Qasimi and others. high-level military academies in the Soviet Un- ion.62 Uyghur intellectuals, including leaders of the Ili government, namely Elihan Töre, Ehmetjan In its short five years of existence, the Eastern Qasimi, Abdukerim Abbasof, and others, fre- Turkistan Republic (or Ili government) emerged quently published articles on national liberation from nothingness and managed to establish in- movements, ethnic and socio-economic policies, dependence, a flag of state, a regular army, state and on the political and cultural history of East institutions, law and regulations, and other ne- Turkistan and the other various issues. Newspa- cessities of statehood. Thanks to its accomplish- pers and magazines in the territory of the ETR ments in the fields of the military, politics, econ- played an important role for the development of omy, culture, and education, it thereby created culture and the political understanding of the an example of self-determination for the Uyghurs people. in the 20th century. The intellectuals had com- mon viewpoints about issues such as the future In the determination of these policies and strate- of Eastern Turkistan and its self-determination, gies, intellectuals played an important role. From and they hoped that if independence were im- its very beginning, the government of Eastern possible, that they could follow the Soviet Union Turkistan put an extraordinary emphasis on ed- as an allied republic with equal rights. ucation, the emergence of a class of intellectuals, and their empowerment. In line with this, the government of the Eastern Turkistan Republic 5. The idea of high-level autonomy based on the adapted a policy of free, compulsory education. ideology of Turkism? In Ili, mid-level experts were trained, and voca- tional schools established, such as Ili Bilim Yurti Between 1944 and 1949, when the territories of (Ili Institute of Learning) and Tibbiy Mektep Xinjiang were divided and ruled by the Eastern (Medical Nursing Training School). Ili also at- Turkistan Republic government (after 1946, Ili tempted to promote four-year, seven-year, and government or three districts government), ten-year long courses of study. In 1945 and which was based in three districts, and the Xin- 1946, there were 295 schools in the Ili region, jiang provincial government that was based in more than 980 classrooms, 1051 teachers, and Ürümchi, some Turkic intellectuals in Ürümchi, 28343 students. In 1947, the number of students who were trained and travelled in Muslim coun- increased 24 percent. It increased 25 percent in tries of the Middle East and to Turkey, including 1948, and in 1949, it further rose 30 percent. In Dr. Mesud Sabri, Muhemmed Imin Bughra, Eysa 1950, it increased 41 percent.60 The economic Aliptekin, Qurban Qoday, and Abliz Chinggizxan, situation of the students in Ili was better than it engaged in a fierce battle with the intellectuals of was for students in Ürümchi under the rule of the Eastern Turkistan Republic, including Ehmet- the , and the level of education was jan Qasimi, Rehimjan Sabir Haji, Seyfidin Ezizi, as well. and Abdukerim Abbasof, who accepted the influ-

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Uyghur Initiative Papers No. 11, December 2014 ence of Soviet Union. Among these groups, pro- omous rights. After being divided between the ponents of the ideas of the Ili faction, including Soviet Union and the West during the , the leaders of the Eastern Turkistan Republic, both groups of Uyghur intellectuals ultimately were labeled as “radicals,” whereas proponents lost influence. of the "Üch Ependi" (three misters) in Ürümchi were called “conservatives” by , Conclusion Chairman of coalition provincial government in 1946-1947. 63 In the first half of the 20th century, a Uyghur in- tellectual class whose members were trained in Although they had a common final goal, their modern schools, witnessed a phase of new de- disagreement on which external power to use velopment. The formation and development of temporarily created a major rift between them. Uyghur intellectuals took place in a broad region, Intellectuals referred to as "üch ependi," namely including Central Asia, Turkey, the Middle East Mesud Sabri, Muhemmed Imin Bughra, and Eysa and Eastern Turkistan/Xinjiang. Although these Yusuf Aliptekin, preferred to negotiate with the intellectuals lived in different regions of the Chinese Kuomintang government, through which world, had citizenship of different states, and hey were planned to gain rights to a high-level of were under the influence of different ideologies, autonomy64 within and to reform the Chi- they always thought of themselves in relation to nese constitution in order to change the name their Uyghur national identity and the territorial Xinjiang to Turkistan. They were against the na- identity of Eastern Turkistan. tionalities policies of the Soviet Union, which paved the way for a division of territories and for During their emergence and development, they classifying groups as Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, were influenced by different ideological currents, and Uzbek, and were in favor of a common Tur- including communism, Turkism, and Islamism, kic national ideology. Because they were against and they tried to apply these theories to the Uy- the Soviet Union, they were more favorably dis- ghur independence movement. Intellectuals posed toward the central government of China. played prominent roles in two Republics of East- They also were supportive of countries like the ern Turkistan. The leadership cadres of these United States, Britain, and Turkey during the states were formed by these intellectuals. And Cold War, and promoted the idea of cooperation they also constituted the core of the government with these countries. and the military.

On the other hand, intellectuals of Ili under the Especially during the National Liberation Move- leadership Ehmetjan Qasimi were in favor of an ment of 1944-1949, the role of intellectuals was armed insurrection, with backing from the Soviet further consolidated, and the government that Union, in order to determine the future of East lasted for five years was administered by Uyghur Turkistan. These intellectuals opposed the Kuo- intellectuals. The first Eastern Turkistan Repub- mintang government of China. lic was abolished by the Soviet Union. Although the second Eastern Turkistan Republic or Ili China and Soviets benefited from this division Government was supported and protected by the among Uyghurs in their diplomatic battles and Soviet Union, at the end of the day, it became a sacrificed them for their own interests, never victim of the Soviet Union, as well. allowing the Uyghur intellectuals from these two factions to unite. In the end, as a result of the The Soviets again used of the dreams of libera- political changes in the world and in China in tion of Uyghur intellectuals in the Soviet Union 1949, neither group had been able to achieve and Xinjiang to pursue its own national interests their goals, which included independence, form- in the 1940s, especially after the Chinese nation- ing an allied republic with the Soviet Union, or alist government began cooperating with the established an autonomous republic with higher United States and the British, and both countries autonomy in the Chinese state. Neither western- opened consulates in Ürümchi. Soviets used Uy- oriented nationalist China nor Soviet-oriented ghur intellectuals to publish the monthly Uyghur communist China gave them their desired auton- magazine Sherq Heqiqiti in Tashkent and Qazaq

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Eli in Almaata and sent them to Xinjiang. The Soviets also sent some Uyghur intellectuals to After nearly eight months of negotiation under the East Turkistan Republic as political, military, intense pressure from Moscow, a coalition gov- and administrative advisors. Within this envi- ernment was established in July of 1946 under ronment, the Soviet Union supported and re- which the Uyghurs and the Chinese would share energized the independence struggle of the Uy- political power. The coalition government col- ghurs and other native peoples in Xinjiang prov- lapsed within a year, and the Ili National army ince in order to establish its own influence in the resumed fighting against Chinese forces. The region and dislodge the influence of the United Soviet Union never planned, however, to occupy States and Great Britain from this corner of Cen- Xinjiang or to establish an independent state on tral Asia. Xinjiang territory.69 Instead, in the 1940s, the Soviet Union only used the dream of independ- The role and involvement of the Soviet Union in ence and freedom of Uyghur intellectuals for its the ETR and Xinjiang's political life in 1944-49 own national interests. According to Abdurewup was not reflected in the works of Soviet Russian Mexsum Ibrayimi, the General Secretary of the historians until after the collapse of the Soviet ETR in 1944-46, the Soviet Consuls and Generals, Union. This was due primarily to the closed na- promised help to members of the Liberation Or- ture of the archival materials that were able to ganization in the establishment of an independ- shed light on these issues. During the Cold War ent state like Mongolia, but after October of 1945 period almost all Western scholars who studied they refused to help. “In the end, Stalin sold the Sino-Soviet relations and Xinjiang, using some ETR to communist China. The Soviets cheated Chinese and Western diplomatic sources, con- us,” said Mr. Ibrayimi.70 cluded that the Soviet Union was deeply in- volved and played a key role in the establish- Different ideas among Uyghur intellectuals, in- ment of the ETR and its military, political, eco- cluding establishing an independent state, attain- nomic, and other activities.65 But, they could not ing higher autonomy, or accepting the Soviet clarify their points with information from origi- model and forming an allied or autonomous re- nal Soviet documents. However, after the mid- public, completely failed in the end. There were 1990s, when Russian scholars started to open domestic and external reasons for this. Different the archive documents relating to the Soviets ideas and disagreements among intellectuals involvement in the ETR, it was possible to shed were related to the destiny of their own people. light on the fact that the developments were part Each faction claimed that its ways and methods of the Soviets’ preconceived plan. were best. At the same time, Uyghur intellectuals on both sides of the border in Soviet Central Asia According to secret Soviet archives that were and Xinjiang became victims of the purges of opened after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Stalin and Sheng Shicai in 1937-38, and the new Stalin’s politburo decided to organize and sup- Uyghur intellectual elites that emerged in the port the national liberation movements in Xin- 1930s were destroyed by the dictators of that jiang province.66 Until July 1946, high-level Sovi- period. et political and military advisers came from Mos- cow and regularly stayed in Ghulja, providing aid Almost all Soviet Uyghur intellectuals that sup- to the ETR.67 More than 2000 soldiers and 500 ported the establishment of a Republic of Uyghu- officers from the served in the Nation- ristan became victims of . Meanwhile, al Army of the ETR,68 which numbered 30,000 the intellectuals from the Eastern Turkistan Na- soldiers. tional Liberation Movement, who depended on the support of the Soviet Union, and of pro-Three The struggle for independence grew nationwide, Misters (üch ependichi), and intellectuals, based and the Chinese Kuomintang government in in Ürümchi, who relied on the support of nation- Urumqi faced the possibility of defeat. At such a alist China, refused and rejected each other's critical time, Stalin forced the East Turkestan views, despite their mutual desire to achieve leadership to compromise and negotiate with the independence. China claimed that the first stage Chinese Kuomintang government. of the ETR and its president, Elihan Töre and the

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“Three Misters” in Ürümchi, had pan-Turkist or tonomous Republic" from the PRC. In their sub- Pan-Islamic aims. mitted program they indicated the delegation of the exterior diplomatic, military powers of the The division of the Uyghur intellectual class in said Autonomous Republic to Chinese govern- the 20th century was a reflection of international ment but have reserved the creation of its na- and regional ideological and political competi- tional army for domestic use, indicated self- tion in Eastern Turkistan and among the Uy- governance and control over its wealth and ghurs. The leadership of the first Eastern Turki- trade.72 Even some of the former ETR cadres and stan Republic was formed by the individuals who intellectuals based in Ürümchi and Kashgar took were influenced by the Turkism and Islamist part in this petition. And although, later in April- awakening movements, which emerged at the May, 1951 it was heavily condemned by the first beginning of the 20th century, but their statist conference of all nationalities of Xinjiang.73 But, ideology based on Turkism turned out to be a in history this event remained as a "conference victim of the complicated external and internal of 51"74 or "the movement of 51." political situation in Eastern Turkistan and Cen- tral Asia, as well as of the conflict of interests and In the end, however, Mao didn’t recognize the power struggles between the great powers. The right to self-determination of the Uyghurs, - intellectuals and leaders of the first republic ans, , or others. Chinese leaders justified were eliminated by the Soviet Union and its Chi- their choice by explaining that China’s situation nese proxy Sheng Shicai. Their defeat was a loss was different from that in the Soviet Union. In felt by generations of Uyghurs. 1955, two years after Stalin’s death, passed over Stalin’s ethnic autonomous republic After 1946, the new dream of some Uyghur Intel- policy for the Uyghurs, a system some Uyghurs lectuals and Ili leaders, including founders of the had hoped he would follow, and decided instead People’s Revolutionary Party, such as Abdukerim to establish regional autonomy in the province, Abbasof and others after 1949—those who be- renaming the area the Xinjiang Uyghur Autono- lieved the Chinese communists’ earlier promises mous Region. Many former ETR leaders and in- of self-determination for national minorities— tellectuals looked to the leadership of this auton- was that the PRC would establish Soviet-style omous region with new dreams. republics. Uyghur intellectuals advocating for the estab- Among Uyghur intellectuals and former ETR lishment of the Uyghuristan Republic within the (East Turkistan Republic) officials the ideas of PRC in Xinjiang after 1950 were repressed by Soviet-style republics within the newly built Chi- Chinese Communists.75 nese People's Republic was very much alive in 1951. But until the death of Stalin in 1953, China After the Qingdao meeting in 1957, at which Chi- did not pronounce clearly its position on what nese premier Zhou Enlai strongly criticized for- type of governance it would accord to Uyghurs - mer ETR Uyghur nationalists, some Uyghur na- whether it would be a Soviet style union or an tionalists immigrated to Soviet Central Asia. Autonomous republic on its own. Therefore, Some of them died or were assaulted during the among former cadres of ETR and intellectuals, Cultural Revolution. there was a desire to copy the Soviet style unifi- cation with China. At a 1951 conference in Ghulja city, the former seat of government of ETR, a 1 Special thanks go to Kara Abramson for her exten- group of Uyghur leaders proposed the estab- sive assistance and editing of this paper. lishment of a "Republic of Uyghuristan" with the 2 According to Abduraxman Abdulla, Sheng Shicai capacity to regulate all its internal affairs.71 Ac- sent a total of 307 students to the Central Asian Uni- cording to a former high level official of ETR, in versity, including 146 Uyghurs, 84 , 30 and Kyrgyz, 5 Tatars, 4 Uzbeks and Tajik, 16 March of 1951 in Ghulja city, the 51 ex-high offi- Hui, and 12 Mongols. See Tashkentchiler, (Ürümchi: cials and intellectuals of ETR gathered together Shinjang Xelq Neshiriyati, 2002), p. 2. According to for a special reunion conference on which they Ablimit Hajiyof, a former student at the Central Asian demanded the creation of the "Uyghuristan Au- University, Sheng Shicai sent 300 students from 13

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ethnic groups in Xinjiang to the Central Asian Univer- 13 James A. Milliward (2007) Eurasian Crossroads: A sity. Also the Xinjiang provincial government and , New York: Columbia University agricultural and health departments separately sent Press, p.201. 10 students each to Samarkand Agricultural Institute 14 Andrew D.W. Forbes, (1986) Warlords and Muslims and another 10 each to the College of Animal Hus- in Chinese Central Asia: A Political history of Republi- bandry and Agricultural in Alma-Ata. Most of them can Sinkiang 1911-1949, Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- were Uyghurs. Sheng Shicai sent 14 students to study versity Press, p.114 at medical college in Tashkent. In addition, many stu- 15 Abduqadir Haji, 1986, pp.66-68. Musa Turkistani, dents were sent to Moscow, Tashkent, and other cities pp. supported by funding from their families. See Shéng 16 Seyfidin Ezizi, Ömür Dastani ( Poem of Life) Volume Shiseyning 1930-yillarda Sowét ittipaqigha Oqughuchi 1. ( . Milletler Neshiriyati 1990) P. 397 . Ewetkenliki Heqqide Eslime (Memoir About Sheng Mirehmet Seyit , and Yalqun Rozi. 1997, p.181 Shica’s Sending Students to Soviet Union in 1930s), 17 Millward, 2007, p. 203. (Shinjang Tarixi Matériyalliri, 1989, v.27) 18 Muhemmed Imin Bughra. Sherqiy Türkistan Tarixi 3 Abdulla Talip. Uyghur Maarip Tarixidin Ochériklar (History of East Turkestan). Ankara: 1998. P.400-402 (Record of the History of Uyghur Education) 1986. Mirehmet Seyit, and Yalqun Rozi. 1997. P.182-186 Ürümchi, Shinjang xelq neshiriyati. 19 . Laura J Newby. (1986) The rise of nationalism in http://www.uyghurweb.net/Uy/ATALIP.pdf. p.49 Eastern Turkestan 1930-1950. University of Oxford 4 Musa Türkistani, Türkistan Pajiesi (Tragedy of Tur- .p.71 kestan). 2009. Istanbul. Sutuq Bughraxan Maarip 20 Shirip Hushtar, Shinjang Yéqinqi Zaman Tarixidiki Neshriyati. P.19. Meshhur Shexsler (Famous People in Modern History of Xinjiang), Ürümchi: Shinjang Xelq Neshiriyati, 5 The young Bukharians and its organization was a 2000, pp. 293-294 Jadid secret society founded in Bukhara in 1909. The 21 Millward, 2007, p. 203. main goal of the Young Bukharians was to establish a 22 Shirip Hushtar, 2000, pp. 254-256. democratic republic system in Bukhara. After 1918 23 Shirip Hushtar, 2000, pp.278-279. this organization broke into two parts, some of them 24 See, Musa Türkistani, 2009, , p. 109. pro-communist, some of them anti-communists and 25 Shinmen Yasushi. 1994, pp. 7-9, 15. Shirip Hushtar, anti-Soviet power. The Red Army took Bukhara after 2000. pp.190-191 which the pro-communist Young Bukharians formed 26 Mirehmet Seyit and Yalqun Rozi , p. 217 the first government of the Bukharian People’s Soviet 27 Ibid. pp. 212-253. See also the personal interview Republic and in 1924 joined the leadership of the with Seley Haji Artishi, student of Memet Eli Tewpiq Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. in 1933-1936. According to him, Tewpiq taught many poems about Uyghuristan. One of them is “Uyghuri- 6 The Young Khivans organization was established in stan baliliribiz” (We are sons of Uyghuristan). Person- Khiva in 1912. Young Khivans had almost the same al interview ,Octeber,2008. 28 ideology, goal, and destiny as the Young Bukharians. Shirip Hushtar, 2000, , p.357 29 7 Musa Türkistani, 2009, p.109 Gunnar Jarring, “Printings From Kashgar,” Swedish 8 Ibid. p. 28 Research Institute in Istanbul, Transactions, 1991, Vol. 9 Ahat Andican (2003) “Turkestan’s Struggle Abroad,” 3, pp. 21-24. 30 Jadidism to Independence, SOTA publication: Haarlem, Musa Türkistani. 2009, p.109. Sabit Uyghuriy. Uy- Netherlands, pp. 41-47 ghurname ( Book on Uyghur),2005. Almaty, Nash Mir. 10 H. B. Paksoy (1991) Basmachi: Turkistan National p. 390-391. 31 Liberation Movement (1916-1930s), Modern Ency- Musa Türkistani.2009. p.109 32 clopedia of Religions in Russia and the Soviet Union A .Rozibaqiyev . Tengriqul Qutluq ( About Ten- (FL: Academic International Press) 1991, Vol. 4, griqul Qutluq ), "Perwaz”, Alma-Ata, 1994.p.7 33 pp. 5–20. A. Rozibaqiyev. Abdulla Rozibaqiyev Sherqiy Turki- 11 Mirehmet Seyit, and Yalqun Rozi. Memtili Ependi stan Mesililirige Köngül Bölgen (Abdulla Rozibaqiyev (Mr. Memtili), (Ürümchi: Shinjang Uniwérsitéti Concerned about East Turkistan Problems). News Neshriyati 1997), pp. 182-185 paper "Uyghur Awazi " Alma-Ata . 0ct31, 1997. 34 12 Abduqadir Haji. 1933-1937 Yilighiche Qeshqer, Xo- Barmin A. Sovetskij Soyuz I Sinzyan 1918-1941 ( ten, Aqsularda Bolup Ötken Weqeler (“Events of 1933- Soviet Union and Xinjiang in 1918-1941). 1998. Bar- 1937 in Kashgar, Khoten and Aksu”), Xinjiang Tarixi naul university press. p.86-88 35 Matériyalliri (Xinjiang Historical Materials), No. 17 James A. Millward and Nabijan Tursun, “Political (Ürümchi: Xinjiang Xelq Neshiriyati,1986), pp. 66-67. History and Strategies of Control, 1884-1978,” In.

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Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland, edited by Starr. 46 See ; “Küresh” (The Struggle ), magazine of ETR p.73 Youths Organization. 1946. 1-6. Ghulja. See; Criminal 36 See: David Brophy ., Karshgaris, and the ‘ Law of ETR. Uyghur Question’ in Soviet Central Asia. Inner Asia. 47 ETR government published Vol. 7, No. 2 (2005). P.163-184 . Nabijan Tursun. Lé- newspaper “Svobodnyj Vostochniy Turkestan”. 48 ninning Sherq istratégiyeside Uyghur Milliy Azadliq . Xinjiang Jianshi ( Brief history of Xinjiang) .1980. Herikiti( National Liberation Movement of Lenin’s Xinjiang Renmin Chubanshe.p.368. 49 Eastern Strategy). Ana Yurt Magazine.2013. Issue 1. Shinjang Üch Wilayet Inqilabigha Dair Chong Ish- Ankara. pp.80-89. lar Xatirisi ( great events of Xinjiang three district 37 Justin Rudelson. Oasis identities : Uyghur National- revolution). P.44-45. See; Zhang Dajun. Xinjiang ism Along China’s Silk Road, New York. Columbia Fengbao Qishinian ( 70 years storm in Xinjiang). Tai- University, 1997. .Press. P.149. bei. Lanxi chubanshe, 1980. V.9, p. 6526-6530 50 38 Ond Ej Klime .(2015). “Struggle by the Pen: The Uy- Khakimbayev A.A . Natsionalno-Osvoboditelnoe Dvizhenie Naselenia Sinziana v 30-x I 40-x Godakh ghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest,c.1900- XX Veka ( National liberation Movement of Local 1949”. Brill Academic Pub, . P.107 Population of Xinjiang in 1930 and 1940s of 20th 39 Chen Huisheng . Minguo Xinjiang Shi ( History of Century // Institut Vostokovedenia AN CCR. Forbes, Xinjiang in Chinese Republican Period ), 1999. Ürüm- Andrew D.W. Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Cen- chi, Xinjiang Renmin Chubanshe. P.283. Millward , tral Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 2007. P.203 1911-1949. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 40 Personal Interview with Mr. Gholamidin Pahta, son 1986. P.183 of Ehmet Pahta one of the members of ETR govern- Xinjiang Jianshi.1980,. p.368-369. Zhang Dajun. V.9, ment and delegation which sent to Soviet Union by p. 6526-6530 . Shinjang Üch Wilayet Inqilabigha Dair ETR government on January, 1934. Chong Ishlar Xatirisi . p. 16. 41 Nabijan Tursun. (2013). 20-esirdiki Tunji “Uyghur 51 Elihan Töre Saghuniy. Türkistan Qayghusi ( Grief of Jemiyiti “ we Uyghur Kimlikining Shekillinish Dewr Turkistan ). 2003. East Publishing House. Tashkent. Sharaiti.( First “Uyghur Organization” in the 20th 52 Abduraxman Abdulla. Tashkentchiler . p.51.Shirip century and background of formation of Uyghur identity), Hushtar. p.93-94 “Ana Yurt” magazine . Ankara. Issue 4. 2013. 53 Personal interview with Aytogan Yunuchi, Coronel pp.124-126. of East Turkistan National Army in 2004. Aytogan 42 August 3, 1933 the Politburo of the Russian Com- Yunuchi is brother of Hebib Yunuchi. Osmanova- munist Party adopted the "Guidelines for working Usimova Nazila. Nezabyvaemie Lica ( Unforgettable with Xinjiang", which was drafted and submitted to a people ). 2009.Almaty ,p.174 special committee of the Politburo as a part of the 54 Seyfidin Ezizi, ömür Dastani ( Poem of K.Voroshilov, G. Y Sokolnikova and S. Z Eliava. This Life).1990,Milletler Neshiryati, Beijing. p.421-469. document stated that : "Considers it unacceptable to 55 Shirip Hushtar. Volume 2. 2003. p.205 support the slogans and policies for separation Xin- 56 jiang from China." See: AVP.RF. F. 17. Op. 166 D. 502. V.A. Barmin. Sintszian v sovetsko-kitaiskikh L. 5-7, 8-11(.Archives of Foreign Policy of the Rus- otnosheniiakh 1941-1949 gg ( Xinjiang in Soviet-Sino sian Federation ) ; see: Russko-Kitajskie Otnoshenia : Relations in 1941-1949s ). Barnaul, Russian Republic materialy I documenty. T 3 ,v XX veke,1933-1937. ( : Barnaulskii gosudarstvennyi pedagogicheskii uni- Russian-Chinese Relations: Materials and documents . versitet, 1999. P.58-59. According to Barmin Ehmet- 3 volumes, 20th century , in 1933-1937 . volume 1). jan Qasimi received his PhD in history from Moscow Pamyatniki Istoricheskoj Mysli, Moscow, 2010. P.184- State Pedagogical University. 57 194. “ Ittipaq” magazine , 1948. No;1 Ghulja city.p.13-15 43 James Milliward. p.209, Nabijan Tursun. 2002. Üch Wilayet Inqilabigha Dair Chong Ishlar Xatirisi ( Uyghur Political History in 1930-1949s , unpublished. Great events of Xinjiang three district revolution ). 44 Urpra. Russian Word; Urumchinskoe Provitelstvo(( 1995. Shinjang Xelq Neshiriyati. Ürümchi. P.364-365. 58 Urumchi Government ). Nabijan Tursun. Yearning For a Republic Erased From The Map. http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/uyghurs_f 45 Russian State Military Archive (hereafter RGVA) F. acts-07092009163637.html/uyghur_history.pdf 25895, Op. 1, D. Citing , Pavel Aptekar, Ot Zheltorosii 59 Linda Benson. The ; The Moslem Chal- do Vostochno-Turkestanskoj Respubliki( From Yellow lenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944-1949, Russia to the East Turkestan Republic”. Armonk, NY and London. M.E Sharpe. 1990. 83-118. http://rkka.ru/oper/sinc/sinc.htm. 60 Hakim Jappar. Üch Wilayet Inqilabi Mezgilidiki Maarip Ishliri Heqqide Eslime ( Memoir on Education

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Affairs in The Period of Three District Revelation ), : Barnaulskii Gosudarstvennyi Pedagogicheskii Uni- Shinjang Tezkirisi. 1995. Issue 1, p.41-48. versitet, 1999. p.79. 61 Toxti Ibrayim. Milliy Armiyining Jenggiwar Mu- 67 A. Kamalov. “Uyghur Memoir Literature in Central sapisi ( Heroic journey of National Army), Shinjang Asia on East Turkestan Republic (1944-1949)” Xelq Neshiriyati. 2003. p.252. Hesen Nurhaji Bolus. , Studies on Xinjiang Historical Sources in 17-20th Üch Wilayet Milliy Armiyisi Uyushturghan Herbiy kurs Centuries. . The Toyo Bunko 2010, Edited by we Mektepler ( Military courses and schools of Na- James A .Millward, Shinmen Yasushi, Sugawara Jun. tional Army of Three Districts), Shinjang Tezkirisi P.264-275. Barmin. V A. Sintszian v sovetsko- .1994. issue 3. p.10-14 kitaiskikh otnosheniiakh 1941-1949 gg ( Xinjiang in 62 Interview with Mesumjan Zulpiqarov, former ETR Soviet-Sino Relations in 1941-1949s ). Barnaul, Rus- army captain and officer of Bayanday Military School sian Republic : Barnaulskii gosudarstvennyi pedagog- of Officers (1947-1948). H. Nurhaji Bolus. 1994. icheskii universitet, 1999. p.79-81 p.10-14 68 Barmin V A. ibid. p.80 63 Zhang Zhizhong Hui Yilu ( Memoires of Zhang Zhi- 69 I.A. Polikarpov . Pozisia Sovetskogo Soyuza V zhong) Volume 2. In Uyghur Translation : Ürümchi Otnoshenii Natsiyonalno-Osvoboditelnogo Dvizhenia V Söhbiditin Shinjang Tinch Azad Bolghan’gha Qeder (From Sinziyane v 1944-1945 gg ( The Position of Soviet Urumqi talks to peaceful liberation of Xinjiang). Union According to National –Liberation Movement 1987.Urümchi: Shinjang Xelq Neshiriyati. P.234,p.236. in the Sinkang in 1944-1945). Izvestia, Altaiskogo 64 Zhang Zhizhong Hui Yilu ( Memoires of Zhang Zhi- Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta 2010. zhong) Volume 2. 1985. Beijing: Wenshi Ziliao Chu- BBK: 63.3(2)622 . p.179 banshe. P.571 According to Seydulla Seyfullayef, president of Organ- 65 Dabbs J. History of Discovery and Exploration of ization of East Turkistan Youth in 1946-1948, the Chinese Turkestan. Texas. 1963. p.176. Moseley G. A Soviets never planned to support an independent East Sino-Soviet Cultural Frontier : The Ili Kazakh Auton- Turkistan Republic. It only used the slogan of inde- omous Chou. Cambridge ,1966. p.12. pendence to support Soviet state interests until1946. Schwartz H. Tsars, Mandarins, and Commissars. A See Seydulla Seyfullayef. Shanliq Sehipe ( A glorious history of Chinese Russian Relations. Philadelph- page of History). Shinjang Tarixi Matériyalliri . 1999. ia and New York.1964. p.141. Hasiots A. Soviet Po- Ürümchi. Shinjang Xelq Neshiriyati. No. 41. p. 37. 70 litical, Economic , and Military Involvement in Sin- Phone Interview with Mr. Ibrayimi in November of kiang from 1928 to 1949,. New York and London, 2003. 71 1987. Macmillan D. Chinese Communist Power and Gardner Bovingdon. Autonomy in Xinjiang : Han Policy in Xinjiang, 1949-1977. Boulder, Colorado , Nationalist Imperatives and Uyghur Discontent . Dawson 1979. Barnett D. China's Far west Boulder, Policy Studies 11. East-West Center. Washington. San Francisco, Oxford , 1993. Miller N. Soviet Imperi- 2006. P.12 72 alism and Sinkiang. The University of Maryland . . Enwerhan Baba. Hayatimdin Xatiriler (Memories of 1951. Lattimore O. Pivot of Asia. Sinkiang and the my Life). Shinjang Tarixiy Matériyalliri. 1996. Shinjang Inner Asian Frontiers of China and Russia. Boston. Xelq Neshiriyati. 40. P.321-323. Also see: Kakhraman 1950. P.86, p.87-88. Linda Benson. The Ili rebellion ; Kohazhamberdi. Ujgury : Etno-politicheskaja istoria s The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xin- drevnejshikh vremyon do nashej dnej ( Uyghurs: Ethnic – jiang, 1944-1949, Armonk, NY and London. M.E political history from ancient times to today) . Almaty, Sharpe. 1990. p.39 . Mir.2008. pp.546-547 Andrew D.W. Forbes, Warlords and Muslims in Chi- 73 K. L. Syroyezhkin. Mify i real'nost' etnicheskogo nese Central Asia: A Political history of Republican separatizma v Kitaye i bezopasnost' Tsentral'noy Azii" ( Sinkiang 1911-1949 . Cambridge: Cambridge Univer- Myths and Reality of Ethnic Separatism in China sity Press, 1986.p.177-181. David D. Wang. Under and Security of Central Asia) Almaty DAIK-PRESS. the Soviet Shadow: The Incident; Ethnic Con- 2003.p.126 flicts and International Rivalry in Xinjiang, 1944– 74 Enwerhan Baba. 1996. pp.320-321 1949. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. 1999. 75 Khakimbayev A.A . Natsional’naya Politika Mao- istov V Sintsyane 1949-1969 ( Nationality Policy of 66 Gosudarstvennyj Arkhiv Rossijskoj Federatsii (Rus- Maoists in Xinjiang ), Twentieth Century Special sian State Archive ). F.P-9401 s/ch. .Osobaya Papka Bulletin of IVAN SSSR. Volume 1. Moscow. 1973. P. I.V Stalina (Special Folder of Y. V. Stalin)-op.2- D.68. 96-97. See ; Barmin V A. Sintszian v Sovetsko-Kitaiskikh Otnosheniiakh 1941-1949 gg ( Xinjiang in Soviet-Sino Relations in 1941-1949s ). Barnaul, Russian Republic

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