International Union of East Turkestan Organizatıons's Press Release on the Anniversary
of Eliskhu Massacre Anniversary
As International Union of East Turkestan Organizatıons, we condemn the Eluskhu Massacre carried out by the occupying Chinese regime in the town of Eluskhu in the district of East Turkistan on July 28, 2014. In this massacre, more than 3 thousand East Turkistani Muslims were brutally massacred by Chinese military forces equipped with heavy weapons.
On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the town of Elishku in Yarkent district of Kashgar was bombarded with heavy weapons by the Chinese occupation forces, the houses of the civilian population were raided using tear gas and thousands of innocent Muslims lost their lives. The sudden raid by Chinese soldiers was carried out using heavy weapons on the civilian population in worship.
This bloody attack, launched by the Chinese regime under the name of the “Tough Fight Against Terrorism Campaign”, is an attack on the religious freedoms and human rights of the Muslim Uyghur people living not only in the town of Alishu, but also in all of East Turkestan. In this process, basic belief practices such as worship, religious conversations and headscarves have been under strict control and pressure by Chinese police forces, and many people have been unlawfully arrested and tortured.
The Elishku Massacre is part of the Chinese regime's systematic assimilation and genocide policies against the people of East Turkestan. After 2014, these policies have deepened with crimes against humanity such as concentration camps, forced labor and the Sinicizatıon of Islam. The murderous occupying China has made it a state policy to destroy the people of East Turkestan, whom it cannot assimilate and Chineseize through propaganda and pressure, by massacring them. In addition to pressure, restrictions and propaganda, continuous monitoring, surveillance and house raids have started to increase since this date. It is clear that these attacks, which took place on Eid al-Fitr, especially on houses of worship, aim to prevent Islam from being practiced in East Turkistan.
We call on the international community to condemn these and similar massacres committed by the Chinese government in East Turkistan, to respect human rights and to stand by the people of East Turkistan. The international community must act together to prevent these painful events from happening again.
On the anniversary of the Elişku Massacre, we commemorate all our lost brothers and sisters with mercy and pledge that we will continue to keep their memory alive. We will continue our struggle against the Chinese government's policies of oppression, assimilation and genocide in East Turkistan.
International Union of East Turkestan Organizatıons
July 28, 2024
