10 Facts About East Turkestan

1.

East Turkestan, is a loosely-defined geographical and historical region in the western provinces of China, which varies in meaning by context and usage.

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2.

The term was coined in the 19th century by Russian Turkologists, including Nikita Bichurin, who intended the name to replace the common Western term for the region, Chinese East Turkestan, which referred to the Tarim Basin in the southwestern part of Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty.

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3.

East Turkestan is a founding member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, which was formed in 1991, where it is represented by the World Uyghur Congress.

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4.

Term was coined in the 19th century by Russian Turkologists, including Nikita Bichurin, who intended the name to replace the common Western term for the region, Chinese East Turkestan, which referred to the Tarim Basin in the southwestern part of Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty.

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5.

The term "East Turkestan" was popularized in academic works, but inconsistently: at times, the term East Turkestan only referred to area in Xinjiang south of the Tian Shan mountains, corresponding to the Tarim Basin; the areas north of the Tian Shan mountains were called Dzungaria or Zungaria.

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6.

East Turkestan was historically not treated as an inseparable part of China, but rather colonized by Han Chinese who had little in common with the Uyghur population.

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7.

For separatists, East Turkestan is coterminous with Xinjiang or the independent state that they would like to lead in Xinjiang.

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8.

Proponents of the term "East Turkestan" argue that the name Xinjiang is arrogant, because if the individual Chinese characters are to be taken literally and not as a proper name, then Xinjiang means "New Territory".

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9.

East Turkestan Turkistan was used in the context of Yaqub Beg's Kashgaria in the mid-1800s.

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10.

The historical definitions for "East Turkestan" are multifarious and ambiguous, reflecting that outside of Chinese administration, the area now called "Xinjiang" was not geographically or demographically a single region.

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