Are the people of East Turkestan doomed to desolation?

The persecution of Uyghur Turks by China, which stands out with its concentration camps, can no longer be hidden and cannot be explained in any way.

In spite of our indifferent, indifferent and observant attitude, many Muslims all over theIslamic world, especially the Arakanese and Palestinians, as well as the East Turkestanis, aresuffering and suffering.

In the past, Western powers and Christians used to occupy Islamic countries and respondbrutally to Muslims who resisted this occupation.

With the exception of Russia, whose occupation and persecution is taking place in a verynarrow area compared to the past, the USA, which has turned the Middle East into a fire, andIsrael, which has become a classic, China and Myanmar have recently come to the fore in atrocities.

There are many historical and current reasons for the persecution and the miserable state of Islamic lands. However, there is undoubtedly nothing as hurtful as the lack of unityconsciousness. Although the idea of Union of Islam, which is identified with JamaluddinAfghani, was a proposal for the identification and diagnosis of the problem and its remedy, it was not successful enough in practice due to the influence of various reasons and motives. Ithas been a bitter experience that unity in the Islamic world can only be achieved throughforce.

It has been observed with many severe and painful incidents that China and Russia, whichsometimes stand out as powerful countries to act together against the West and the USA, can act more ruthlessly when it comes to Muslims/Turks.

Wherever we look, there is oppression and helplessness in the face of it; helplessness makesus bend our necks at least as much as the numbness and insensitivity of our people.

Since it is a fact that we have forgotten not only the Turkic world, which we once had a closeinterest in and sought remedies for due to the politics of Ittihad-ı Islam, but even the landsthat are the heart of the state, and that we have made the muhajirs forget as a state policy, weshould not underestimate the stirring in recent days.

It is an undeniable fact that individual and collective consciousness is closely related toeducation and upbringing, and that repeated accurate information will bring consciousnessand sensitivity. It is never too late for anything.

Strangely enough, although the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish world were at the center of İttihad-ı Islam in its birth and development years, later on, being interested in the Turkishworld was considered racism and tribalism, and the secular-racist-anthropological emphasison Turkishness taking an “anti-religious” position reinforced this grave mistake. However, there is a considerable amount of “Turkish” origin among those who come to the fore andproduce original ideas in the valley of Ittihad-ı Islam and Islamism.

Every East Turkistani I knew was devoted to Islam to the degree of “fanaticism”. Thecommitment to Islam in the entire Turkestan region is highly traditional and problematic in some ways, but perhaps unprecedented in terms of sincerity. Nevertheless, if we ask peoplewith Islamic sensitivity, they cannot utter three sentences about the Uighur Turks, nor can they name Urumqi, Kashgar, Khoten, Turfan. This is an inexcusable shame and flaw forpeople with religious sensitivity.

In our age, liberalization manifests itself as an emphasis on ethnic identities and segregation, especially in the Islamic geography. On the other hand, globalization and the assimilation andhomogenization activities of big states do not affect or harm the dominant paradigm. I think it was like this in history. While the Russian Tsardom was inciting and encouraging theSlavs/Orthodox in the Balkans to revolt against the Ottoman Empire, and trying all kinds of methods to grant them autonomy, at the same or close to the same time, it was occupyinglarge territories in Turkestan and suppressing resistance in a very bloody way. The history of Britain and France is no different.

In the Turkic world, as in Turkey, ethnic emphasis and segregation are sometimes marketed in the name of human rights and freedoms and universal values. But apart from all these, there is an ancient disease prevalent among Turks, which is incomprehensible: Sibling rivalry for thethrone.

What is meant by sibling rivalry is not a family rivalry, but a broader rivalry.

There is no straight line in the history of East Turkestan, but the Chinese occupation of theregion at a time when the Ottoman Empire was also interested in the region was also theresult of a fight for the throne.

The reports submitted to the Ottoman Empire by former Kashgar Ambassador Yakup KhanTöre and Kashgar Khan Yakup Khan’s son Beğkulu are very painful.

After the death of Kashgar Khan Yakup Khan, his son and heir, Beğkulu Khan, succeeded tothe throne. However, the governor of Khoten, Niyaz Hakim, began to disobey with the aim of appropriating the province, and the former governor of Turfan, Hakim Khan Töre, alsorebelled. Beğkulu Khan launched military operations in these two regions in order to restore order, but taking advantage of this situation, the Chinese Khan came to Urumqi with 80 thousand troops, and six thousand troops suddenly entered Kashgar and captured it without a fight.

In his layihada, Beğkulu Khan stated that all the works that his father had created in Kashgarwith all his hard work had been destroyed and wasted due to the sectarianism and discord thathad become a chronic disease among Muslims. Beğkulu Khan admits and confesses that his military campaign and the internal warfare and muqatala [strife] between the partiesweakened the strength of the Muslims.

Of course, when the Muslims slaughtered and devastated each other, the Chinese would findthe field empty and after the massacre, they would start assimilation. Beğkulu Khan writes thefollowing: “Especially in these last times, the Chinese gathered the sabîs [children] andmade them learn the Chinese language and religion in the schools, which made thepatience and strength of the people there to a completely intolerable level”. AlthoughBeğkulu Khan stated that the Kashgar Khanate was the land of the caliph and the sultan, andbegged and implored the sultan to spare his favor, the Ottoman Empire, which had beendevastated in the 93rd War and had not yet recovered from its wounds, was unable to provideany significant assistance.

It would not be a prophecy to say that as long as the Islamic world does not give up the causeof separation and separatism, as long as it does not reach the consciousness of unity, sincereMuslims will not be able to help the wound out of desperation; it is indisputable that there is nothing to say to those who are devoid of feeling. In the past, they had the soullessness to callthe helpless and poor muhajirs who fled the Balkan War and took refuge in Istanbul bywalking through muddy fields for days as “dirty muhajirs”.