Lina K 28/01/2025 Lina K 28/01/2025

Uyghur historian sentenced again - this time to life in prison

Uyghur historian Tursunjan Hezim, the founder of a website which archived a vast collection of books and materials on Uyghur history before it was shut down by Beijing, was sentenced to life in prison in 2022.

Lina K 18/06/2024 Lina K 18/06/2024

China: Hundreds of Uyghur Village Names Change

Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have been systematically changing hundreds of village names with religious, historical, or cultural meaning for Uyghurs into names reflecting recent Chinese Communist Party ideology.

Lina K 23/03/2024 Lina K 23/03/2024

Uyghur publisher jailed for books on Uyghur independence, identity

Believed detained for publishing books about Uyghur cultural identity, Erkin Emet was sentenced to prison in 2018; his whereabouts and the length of his sentence is unknown.

Lina K 08/04/2023 Lina K 08/04/2023

Holding out hope for a ‘spring’ free from China’s repression

While spring has arrived in parts of the world, many Uyghurs are still waiting for their spring to arrive, the main sentiment expressed in a new collection by writers with connections to Xinjiang.

Lina K 29/03/2023 Lina K 29/03/2023

In Istanbul, the last Uyghur bookshops struggle to survive

Caught between a vindictive Chinese state and Turkish police, Uyghur booksellers try to preserve their language and culture.

Lina K 09/02/2023 Lina K 09/02/2023

The Complicity of Heritage: Cultural Heritage and Genocide in the Uyghur Region

This report highlights how China’s actions constitute what UNESCO calls “strategic cultural cleansing”, through systematic destruction of cultural heritage and targeting people on the basis of their ethnic affiliation.

Lina K 21/12/2022 Lina K 21/12/2022

A Guide on East Turkistan Language, Uyghur Names and Geography

This report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) offers a guide to rendering the Uyghur language in Latin script, reporting Uyghur names, and using Uyghur versions of geographical locations.

Lina K 19/12/2022 Lina K 19/12/2022

Uyghur Artist Interview: ‘Our culture is disappearing now’

Marwayit Hapiz, a renowned Uyghur artist, speaks with RFA about her artwork, the direction it has taken in recent years amid the Chinese government’s repression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and her hopes for young Uyghur painters.

Lina K 22/11/2022 Lina K 22/11/2022

China is erasing their culture. In exile, Uyghurs remain defiant.

A growing Uyghur diaspora has found refuge—and a reconnection to their culture—in the neighborhoods of Istanbul.

Lina K 20/09/2022 Lina K 20/09/2022

Cultural Heritage and Mass Atrocities

Assembling dozens of experts from the heritage, social science, humanitarian, legal, and military communities, this open-access book features a series of essays on the global value of cultural heritage, recent examples of intentional cultural heritage destruction across the globe, and how it can be protected.

Lina K 02/08/2022 Lina K 02/08/2022

The Turkish school preserving culture of young Uighurs in exile

In Istanbul, children whose families face persecution in Xinjiang, China, attend a ‘Uighur School’ that strives to safeguard their cultural identity.

Lina K 16/07/2022 Lina K 16/07/2022

Uyghur Poems From a Chinese Prison

The acclaimed poet Gulnisa Imin is serving a 17-year sentence because her work supposedly promotes “separatism.” She’s still writing.

Lina K 27/05/2022 Lina K 27/05/2022

Uyghur voices in Istanbul

A Uyghur couple turns to music — inspired by the songs and poems of their culture — in response to the crisis in their homeland.

Lina K 06/05/2022 Lina K 06/05/2022

China razes Kashgar’s iconic Grand Bazaar

Analysis of satellite images shows dramatic changes in the market, including the removal of buildings and the roofs of stalls, between photos taken a month apart. According to one local official, a new tourist attraction will arise in its place.

Lina K 02/05/2022 Lina K 02/05/2022

Beyond Belief: Who Are The Uyghurs?

This discussion panel of experts from the region and those with lived experience explores the faith of the majority Muslim Uyghur people and what could be lost from their language, culture and heritage.

Lina K 01/03/2022 Lina K 01/03/2022

We Uyghurs Have No Say: An Imprisoned Writer Speaks

This book presents a collection of imprisoned Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti’s words on justice, the history of Xinjiang and the plight of China’s Muslim minorities.

Lina K 16/02/2022 Lina K 16/02/2022

Historic Uyghur culture is under existential threat

Shaped over centuries by pilgrimage, trade, art and war, a unique culture has been suppressed and exploited by Beijing. Can Uyghur distinctiveness re-emerge?

Lina K 22/11/2021 Lina K 22/11/2021

Genocidal processes: social death in Xinjiang

This paper builds on critical genocide studies literature to historically contextualize China’s “fusion” policy used to justify its policies of extralegal internment camps and inter-generational separation in Xinjiang.

Lina K 01/02/2021 Lina K 01/02/2021

Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang

(Originally published November 2006, revised February 2021) Eurasian Crossroads is an essential resource for anyone seeking to learn about the complex historical context of the genocide taking place in Xinjiang today. James Millward, who is widely regarded as the leading historian of Chinese Central Asia, provides an accessible-yet-thorough examination of the various peoples and empires that have called the region home.

Lina K 24/08/2020 Lina K 24/08/2020

The Spatial Cleansing of Xinjiang: Mazar Desecration in Context

Since March 2018, the Chinese state has destroyed and desecrated Uyghur historical and holy places at a scale unprecedented in the history of Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang), among them the sacred mazars.

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