View source for East Turkestan

{{Short description|Geographical region in Central Asia}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Chinese Turkestan]], an older geographical term. For the Chinese province-level division that corresponds to the region, see [[Xinjiang]]}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
[[File:East Turkistan Map and Location per ETGE.png|thumb|350px|Extent of East Turkestan in Central Asia, as defined by the [[East Turkistan Government in Exile]]]]
{{Uyghur people}}
{{History of Xinjiang}}

'''East Turkestan''' or '''East Turkistan''' ({{langx|ug|شەرقىي تۈركىستان}}, {{small|[[Uyghur Latin alphabet|ULY]]}}: {{lang|ug-Latn|Sherqiy Türkistan}}, {{small|[[Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|UKY]]}}: {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Шәрқий Туркистан}}) is a loosely defined geographical region in the [[Northwestern China|northwestern part]] of the [[China|People's Republic of China]], on the [[Crossroads (junction)|cross roads]] of [[East Asia|East]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&q=east+turkestan+crossroads+of+east+and+central+asia | title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang | isbn=978-0-231-13924-3 | last1=Millward | first1=James A. | date=2007 | publisher=Columbia University Press }}</ref> The term was coined in the 19th century by Russian [[Turkology|Turkologists]], including [[Hyacinth (Bichurin)|Nikita Bichurin]], who intended the name to replace the common Western term for the region, "[[Chinese Turkestan]]", which referred to the [[Tarim Basin]] in [[Southern Xinjiang]].<ref name="ORE-terminology"/><ref name="Kamalov-2007"/> Beginning in the 17th century, [[Altishahr]], which means "Six Cities" in Uyghur, became the Uyghur name for the Tarim Basin. Uyghurs also called the Tarim Basin "[[Yettishar]]," which means "Seven Cities," and even "Sekkizshahr", which means "Eight Cities" in Uyghur. Chinese dynasties from the [[Han dynasty]] to the [[Tang dynasty]] had called an overlapping area the "[[Western Regions]]".

Starting in the 20th century, the [[Turkic people|Turkic Muslim]] [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] separatists and their supporters used East Turkestan as an appellation for the whole of Xinjiang (the Tarim Basin and [[Dzungaria]]) or for a [[East Turkestan independence movement|future independent state]] in present-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They reject the name Xinjiang (meaning "New Frontier" in Chinese)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh98/frontier/en1.html|title=Introduction|website=The Lost Frontier Treaty Maps that Changed Qing's Northwestern Boundaries|access-date=January 29, 2020|quote=The Qianlong emperor (1736–1796) named the region ''Xinjiang'', for New Territory.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129124734/https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh98/frontier/en1.html|archive-date=January 29, 2020}}</ref> because of the Chinese perspective reflected in the name, and prefer East Turkestan to emphasize the connection to other, western [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] groups.

The [[First East Turkestan Republic]] existed from November 12, 1933, to April 16, 1934, and the [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] existed between November 12, 1944, and June 27, 1946. East Turkestan is a founding member of the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) formed in 1991, where it was represented initially by the East Turkistan National Congress and later by the [[World Uyghur Congress]] post 2004.<ref name="UNPO">{{Cite web |title = UNPO: East Turkestan |publisher = [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] |access-date = April 24, 2019 |url = https://unpo.org/members/7872 |date = December 16, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190907100620/https://unpo.org/members/7872 |archive-date = September 7, 2019 |url-status = live }}</ref> In September 2004, the [[East Turkistan Government in Exile]] was established in Washington, D.C.

== Etymology ==
{{see also|Turkestan#Etymology and terminology}}
The term "East Turkestan" was coined in the 19th century by [[Russian Empire|Russian]] [[Turkology|Turkologists]], including [[Hyacinth (Bichurin)|Nikita Bichurin]], who intended for the name to replace the common Western term for the region, "[[Chinese Turkestan]]", which referred to the [[Tarim Basin]] in southern Xinjiang or Xinjiang as a whole.<ref name="ORE-terminology">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Uyghur Historiography |first=Ablet |last=Kamalov |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Ludden|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2021 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.637 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 |quote=The split of Central Asia into Russian and Chinese domains did not terminate the intensive interactions between the peoples of the areas, which since the 19th century have been known as "Russian" (West) and "Chinese" (East) Turkestan (Greater Turkistan also included parts of other countries, such as Afghanistan).}}</ref><ref name="Kamalov-2007">{{cite book |title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia |editor1-first=Ildiko |editor1-last=Beller-Hann |editor2-first=M. Cristina |editor2-last=Cesàro |editor3-first=Joanne Smith |editor3-last=Finley |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2007 |isbn=9781315243054 |chapter=The Uyghurs as a Part of Central Asian Commonality: Soviet Historiography on the Uyghurs |first=Ablet |last=Kamalov |pages=34 |quote=It was Russian scholarship, for instance, that introduced for the first time the terms 'West Turkestan' and 'East Turkestan'. In 1829, the Russian sinologist N. Bichurin stated: 'it would be better here to call Bukhara's Turkestan the Western one, and Chinese Turkestan the Eastern [...]'}}</ref> The term "Uyghuristan" means 'land of Uyghurs'.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Uyghur Nation |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780674970441 |pages=173–203 |chapter=6. From Party to Nation |doi=10.4159/9780674970441-009 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/9780674970441-009/html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gladney |first1=Dru C. |year=2000 |title=New Perspectives on the 'New Region' of China: Reconsidering Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/inas/2/2/article-p119_1.xml |journal=Inner Asia |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=119–120 |doi=10.1163/146481700793647841|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The latter name was given to the region by medieval [[Geography and cartography in the medieval Islamic world|Muslim geographers]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brophy |first1=David |url=https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-318 |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-027772-7 |chapter=The Uyghurs: Making a Nation |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.318}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|History of Xinjiang|Turkic settlement of the Tarim Basin|Migration to Xinjiang}}

===Pre-20th century===
[[File:Xiyu City-States of Tarim basin (BC1C).jpg|thumb|right|Cities of the [[Tarim Basin]] region, 1 BC]]
In China, the term [[Western Regions]] ({{zh|c=西域|w=Hsi<sup>1</sup>-yü<sup>4</sup>|p=Xīyù}}; [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]: Qurighar, Қуриғар)<ref>{{cite book |title = China and her neighbours, from ancient times to the Middle Ages: a collection of essays |last = Tikhvinskiĭ |first = Sergeĭ Leonidovich and Leonard Sergeevich Perelomov |publisher=Progress Publishers |year=1981 |page=124 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|last=Han|first=Enze|date=August 31, 2010|title=External Kin, Ethnic Identity and the Politics of Ethnic Mobilization in the People's Republic of China|type=Doctor of Philosophy|publisher=The Faculty of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University|url=https://www.academia.edu/8852779|pages=113–114}}</ref> referred to the regions west of the [[Yumen Pass]]. During the 2nd century BC, Chinese writers called the city states of the northern and southern rim of the [[Taklamakan Desert]] the "Walled city-states of the Western Regions".{{sfn|Bregel|2003|p=10}} In 60 BC, the [[Han dynasty]] established the [[Protectorate of the Western Regions]] "in charge of all the oasis-states of the [[Tarim Basin]]" which they ruled in indirectly with small agricultural military colonies.{{sfn|Bregel|2003|p=10}} The Protector General was stationed at Wulei (west of [[Karasahr]]).<ref>{{cite book | last1=Hulsewâe | first1=A.F.P. | last2=Idema | first2=W.L. | last3=Zèurcher | first3=E. | title=Thought and Law in Qin and Han China: Studies Dedicated to Anthony Hulsewâe on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday | publisher=E.J. Brill|volume=24 | year=1990 | isbn=978-90-04-09269-3 | url=https://books.google/books?id=YZo3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA176| page=176}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Liu | first1=J. | last2=Chen | first2=M. | last3=Wang | first3=M. | title=The General Theory of Dunhuang Studies | publisher=Springer Nature Singapore| year=2022 | isbn=978-981-16-9073-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kd9mEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA14| page=14}}</ref> The city-states were able to conduct their own independent policies with each other. After the Western Han period that ended in 9 AD, China lost its authority over the Western Regions until it was restored in 94 AD and officially lasted until 107 AD.{{sfn|Bregel|2003|p=10}} After the crackdown of internal separatist forces, the Eastern Han dynasty set up another protectorate known as the [[Chief Official of the Western Regions]] instead.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ge|first=Jianxiong|year=2018|title=China's Belt and Road Initiatives – Economic Geography Reformation|publisher=Springer Nature Singapore|page=6}}</ref> Since the Han, successive Chinese governments had to deal with secessionist movements and local rebellions from different peoples in the region.<ref name="Rumer"/> However, even when Xinjiang was not under Chinese political control, Xinjiang has long had "close contacts with China" that distinguish it from the independent Turkic countries of Central Asia.<ref name="Millward"/>A [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] sale contract of a female slave from the period of the Gaochang kingdom under the rule of Qu clan from 639 CE mentioned the Sogdian word "twrkstn", which may have referred to the lands to the east and north of [[Syr Darya]] in the realm of the [[First Turkic Khaganate]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=豊 |first1=吉田 |last2=孝夫 |first2=森安 |last3=新疆ウィグル自治区博物館 |date=1988 |script-title=ja:麹氏高昌国時代ソグド文女奴隷売買文書 |url=https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R000000004-I2952542-00 |journal=神戸市外国語大学外国学研究 |pages=1–50 |script-journal=ja:神戸市外国語大学外国学研究}}</ref>{{rp|14,15}}

The [[Gökturks]], known in ancient Chinese with pronunciation as Tutkyud as well as modern Chinese pronunciation as Tujue (Tu-chueh; {{zh|c=突厥|w=T'u<sup>1</sup>-chüeh<sup>2</sup>|p=Tūjué}}), united the Turkic peoples and created a large empire, which broke into various [[Khanates]] or Khaganates; the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]] inherited Xinjiang, but West Tujue became part of China's [[Tang dynasty]] until the ninth century. However, the terms for West Tujue and [[Eastern Turkic Khaganate|East Tujue]] do not have any relation with the terms West and East Turkestan.<ref name="Rumer">{{Cite book|title=Central Asia: Views from Washington, Moscow, and Beijing |author1=Rumer, Eugene B. |author2=Trenin, Dmitrii |author3=Huasheng Zhao |year=2007 |publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]] |pages=141–143}}</ref> "Turkestan", which means "region of the Turks", was defined by [[Arabs|Arab]] geographers in the ninth and tenth centuries as the areas northeast of the [[Sir River]].<ref name="Rahman">{{Cite book|title=Sinicization Beyond the Great Wall: China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region|first=Anwar|last=Rahman|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|year=2005|pages=20–26}}</ref> For those Arab writers, the Turks were [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]-speaking [[nomad]]s and not the sedentary [[Persian language|Persian]]-speaking [[oasis]] dwellers.<ref name="Millward"/> With the various migrations and political upheavals following the collapse of the Gökturk confederation and the [[Mongol invasion of Central Asia|Mongol invasions]], "Turkestan", according to the official Chinese position, gradually ceased to be a useful geographic descriptor and was not used.<ref name="wp">{{Cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/20030526/4.htm|title=Origin of the "East Turkistan" Issue|publisher=[[State Council of the People's Republic of China]]|date=May 1, 2003|access-date=February 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308025900/http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/20030526/4.htm|archive-date=March 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Battle at Kor-p'ing.jpg|thumb|right|Qing-era [[Chinese painting|painting]] depicting a Chinese campaign against [[Jahangir Khoja]]'s forces in Xinjiang, 1828]]

During the sixteenth century, the [[Chagatai Khanate]] completed the [[Islamization|Islamification]] and [[Turkification]] of western Xinjiang and the surrounding region, known then as [[Moghulistan]], while China's [[Ming dynasty]] [[Ming Turpan Border Wars|held the Eastern Areas]]. After the [[Fall of the Ming dynasty]], a western Mongol group established a polity in "Chinese [[Tartary]]", as it was sometimes known, or in eastern Xinjiang, expanding southward into southern Xinjiang.<ref name="Ildiko 2008">{{Cite book|title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur|author=Bellér-Hann, Ildikó|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|year=2008|chapter=Place and People|pages=35–38, 44–45}}</ref> In 1755, the [[Qing dynasty]] defeated the Mongol [[Dzungar Khanate]] and captured two territories in Xinjiang. The northern territory, where the Dzungars lived, was called [[Dzungaria]], while the southern areas, which the Dzungars controlled and mined, were called Huijiang (Hui-chiang; {{zh|c=回疆|w=Hui<sup>2</sup>-chiang<sup>1</sup>|p=Huíjiāng|l=Muslim territory}}) or [[Altishahr]].<ref name="Millward"/> The term "Xinjiang", which, up until that time, simply meant all territories new to the Qing, gradually shifted in meaning for the Qing court to exclusively mean Dzungaria and Altishahr taken together. In 1764, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] made this use of Xinjiang as a [[proper name]] official and issued an imperial order defining Xinjiang as a "provincial administrative area". After [[Zuo Zongtang|General Tso]] (Tso Ts'ung T'ang) suppressed the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan revolt]] in 1882, Xinjiang was officially reorganized into a province and the name Xinjiang was popularized,<ref name="Rahman"/> superseding "Xiyu" in writing.<ref name="Starr"/>

At the same time as the Chinese consolidation of control in Xinjiang, explorers from the [[British Empire|British]] and [[Russian Empire]]s explored, mapped, and delineated Central Asia in a [[The Great Game|competition of colonial expansion]]. Several influential Russians would propose new terms for the territories, as in 1805 when the Russian explorer Timovski revived the use of "Turkestan" to refer to [[Middle Asia]] and "East Turkestan" to refer to the [[Tarim Basin]] east of Middle Asia in southern Xinjiang or, in 1829, when the Russian [[sinologist]] [[Nikita Bichurin]] proposed the use of "East Turkestan" to replace "Chinese Turkestan" for the Chinese territory east of [[Bukhara]].<ref name="Ildiko 2007"/> The Russian Empire mused expansion into Xinjiang,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing|first=Jeffrey|last=Tayler|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]]|year=2008|page=244|quote=Russia, whether or not it had designs on India, was expanding throughout Central Asia and saw no reason that Xinjiang should not belong to the tsar as did other Central Asian lands to the west.}}</ref> which it informally called "Little Bukhara". Between 1851 and 1881, Russia occupied the [[Ili valley]] in Xinjiang and continued to negotiate with the Qing for trading and settlement rights for Russians.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Central Asia: An Outline History|first=Ram|last=Rahul|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|year=1997|page=88}}</ref> Regardless of the new Russian appellations, the original inhabitants of Central Asia generally continued not to use the word "Turkestan" to refer to their own territories.<ref name="car13"/>
[[File:Plate 23. Sect. II- Chinese Turkistan, Kashmir & Jamu of maps of Constables 1893 hand atlas.jpg|thumb|Map including part of Chinese Turkistan (1893)]]

After a spate of annexations in Middle Asia, Russia consolidated its holdings west of the [[Pamir Mountains]] as the [[Russian Turkestan|Turkestan Governorate]] or "Russian Turkestan" in 1867.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Notes on the Study of Central Asia|first=Yuri|last=Bregel|author-link=Yuri Bregel|publisher=[[Department of Central Eurasian Studies (Indiana University)|Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies]]|year=1996|quote=Strictly speaking, 'Russian Turkestan' as a political term was limited only to the territory of the governorate-general of Turkestan and did not include... the khanates of Bukhara and Khiva}}</ref> It is at this time that Western writers began to divide Turkestan into a Russian and a Chinese part.<ref name="wp"/> Although foreigners acknowledged that Xinjiang was a Chinese polity, and that there were Chinese names for the region, some travelers preferred to use "names that emphasized Turkic, Islamic, or Central Asian, i.e., non-Chinese characteristics".<ref name="Ildiko 2008"/> For contemporary British travelers and English-language material, there was no consensus on a designation for Xinjiang, with "[[Chinese Turkestan]]", "East Turkestan", "Chinese Central Asia", "[[Serindia]]",<ref>{{cite book |title=Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia |last=Meyer |first = Karl Ernest|author1-link=Karl E. Meyer|author2=Brysac, Shareen Blair|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|year=2006|page=347|quote=Stein repeatedly crossed 18,000-foot passes, settling down to work in the deserts of Chinese Turkestan. It took 182 packing cases to hold the finds of his third expedition (1913–16) to the region he preferred calling Serindia, from the Greek word for China, ''Seres'', meaning silkworm.}}</ref> and "Sinkiang" being used interchangeably to describe the region of Xinjiang.<ref name="Ildiko 2007"/> Until the 20th century, locals used the names of cities or oases in their "territorial self-perception", which expanded or contracted as needed, such as Kashgaria out of [[Kashgar]] to refer to southwestern Xinjiang. [[Altishahr]], or "six cities", collectively referred to six vaguely defined cities south of the [[Tian Shan]].<ref name="Ildiko 2008"/>

===Early 20th century===
[[File:1912_China_map_from_National_Geographic.jpg|thumb|Map including "Sin-kiang" (also labelled "East Turkestan") and other territories of China ([[National Geographic Society|NGS]], 1912)]]

In 1912, the [[Xinhai Revolution]] overthrew the Qing dynasty and created a [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]. As Yuan Dahua, the last Qing governor, fled from Xinjiang, one of his subordinates, [[Yang Zengxin]] (楊增新), took control of the province and acceded in name to the Republic of China in March of the same year. In 1921, the [[Soviet Union]] officially defined the [[Uyghurs]] as the sedentary [[Turkic peoples]] from Chinese Turkestan as part of their [[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|nation building policy in Central Asia]].<ref name="Ildiko 2007"/> Multiple insurgencies arose against Yang's successor [[Jin Shuren]] (金树仁) in the early 1930s throughout Xinjiang, usually led by [[Hui people]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Sinkiang: Land at the Back of Nowhere|magazine=[[Life (magazine)|LIFE]]|date=December 1943|volume=15|number=24|pages=95–103|quote=The Chinese rule Sinkiang. Every now and then (1970, 1932) they have to contend with a rebellion of the Moslem masses, usually led by Chinese-speaking Moslems.}}</ref> "East Turkestan" became a rallying cry for people who spoke [[Chagatai language|Turki]] and believed in [[Islam]] to rebel against Chinese authorities.<ref name="wp"/>

{{multiple image
| width   = 150
| image1  = Kashgar Prefecture in China.svg
| alt1    = Location of the First East Turkestan Republic in China
| image2  = Kokbayraq flag.svg
| alt2    = Flag of the First East Turkestan Republic
| footer  = Territorial extent (left) and flag (right) of the [[First East Turkestan Republic]] (1933–1934)
}}

In the Kashgar region on November 12, 1933, Uyghur separatists declared the short-lived<ref name="Pan" /> and self-proclaimed [[First East Turkestan Republic|East Turkestan Republic]] (ETR), using the term "East Turkestan" to emphasize the state's break from China and new anti-China orientation.<ref name="car13">{{Cite journal|title=none|journal=[[Central Asian Review]]|year=1965|volume=13|number=1|location=London|publisher=[[University of Virginia]]|page=5}}</ref> Influenced by [[pan-Islamism]] and [[pan-Turkism]], these separatists established a constitution which mandated [[Sharia]] law in the short-lived Islamic republic.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Huasheng |url= |title=The new great game : China and South and Central Asia in the era of reform |date=2016 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |others=Thomas Fingar |isbn=978-0-8047-9764-1 |location=Stanford, California |pages=175 |chapter=Central Asia in Chinese Strategic Thinking |oclc=939553543}}</ref>

The First ETR gave political meaning to the erstwhile geographical term of East Turkestan.<ref name="Millward"/> It was not recognized by any country, however.<ref name=":0" /> Chinese [[warlord]] [[Sheng Shicai]] (盛世才) quickly defeated the ETR and ruled Xinjiang for the decade after 1934 with close support from the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Dillon"/>

{{multiple image
| width   = 150
| image1  = Second ETR (within China).png
| alt1    = Location of the Second East Turkestan Republic in China
| image2  = Flag of the Second East Turkestan Republic (2).svg
| alt2    = Flag of the Second East Turkestan Republic
| footer  = Territorial extent (left) and flag (right) of the [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] (1944–1946)
}}

Eventually, the Soviet Union exploited the change in power from Sheng to [[Kuomintang]] officials to create the puppet [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] (1944–1946) in present-day [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture]] to exploit its minerals, later justifying it as a national liberation movement against the "reactionary" Kuomintang regime.<ref name="Ildiko 2007" /> Amid the anti-Han programs and policies<ref name="Dillon">{{Cite book|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Far Northwest|first=Michael|last=Dillon|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|year=2004|pages=32–35}}</ref> and exclusion of "[[Paganism|pagan]]s",<ref name="wp" /> or [[Kafir|non-Muslims]], from the separatist government, Kuomintang leaders based in Dihua (Ürümqi) appealed to the long Chinese history in the region to justify its sovereignty over Xinjiang. In response, Soviet historians produced [[Historical revisionism|revisionist histories]] to help the ETR justify its own claims to sovereignty, with statements such as that the Uyghurs were the "most ancient Turkic people" that had contributed to world civilization.<ref name="Ildiko 2007" /> In June 1946, the Soviet Union withdrew its support for the ETR.<ref name=":0" />

Traditionally, scholars had thought of Xinjiang as a "cultural backwater" compared to the other Central Asian states during the [[Islamic Golden Age]].<ref name="Ildiko 2008" /> Local British and US [[Consul (representative)|consuls]], also intrigued by the separatist government, published their own histories of the region. The Soviet Uyghur histories produced during its support of the ETR remain the basis of Uyghur nationalist publications today.<ref name="Ildiko 2007" />

===Late 20th century===
[[File:Seidenstrasse_GMT_Ausschnitt_Zentralasien.jpg|thumb|right|alt=map of Central Asia and the Silk Road|According to one definition of East Turkestan, the [[Tian Shan]] mountain system separates East Turkestan from [[Dzungaria]] in Xinjiang.]]

At the end of the [[Chinese Civil War]] in 1949, with Xinjiang divided between Kuomintang forces and ETR secessionists, the Communist leadership [[Political Accession of Xinjiang to Chinese Communist Control|persuaded both governments]] to surrender and accept the succession of the People's Republic of China government<ref name="Dillon"/> and negotiated the establishment of Communist provincial governments in [[Yining]] (Ghulja) and Dihua.<ref name="Gibb">{{Cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=new|author=H.A.R. Gibb|author-link=Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|year=1954|title=Kuldja|page=364}}</ref> On October 1, 1955, [[Chinese Communist Party]] Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] designated Xinjiang a "Uyghur Autonomous Region",<ref name="Starr"/> creating a regionwide Uyghur identity which overtook Uyghurs' traditionally local and [[oasis]]-based identities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=USAK Yearbook of International Politics and Law|year=2001|volume=3|first1=Sedat|last1=Laçiner|first2=Mehmet|last2=Özcan|first3=İhsan|last3=Bal|page=408}}</ref> Although the Soviet Union initially suppressed the publications of its past Uyghur studies programs, after the [[Sino-Soviet split]] in the 1960s, it revived its Uyghur studies program as part of an "ideological war" against China.<ref name="Ildiko 2007"/><ref name="Shulsky"/> The term "East Turkestan" was popularized in academic works,<ref name="Rumer"/> but inconsistently: at times, the term East Turkestan only referred to as the area in Xinjiang south of the [[Tian Shan]] mountains, corresponding to the [[Tarim Basin]];<ref name="Rumer"/> the areas north of the Tian Shan mountains were called Dzungaria or Zungaria.<ref name="Rahman"/><ref name="Herbertson">{{Cite book|title=Asia|author=Herbertson, Fanny Dorothea|publisher=[[Adam & Charles Black]]|year=1903|page=xxxv|quote=Sin-tsiang is made up of the Tarim basin or Chinese (Eastern) Turkestan and Zungaria. The former is a desert with marginal oases where rivers descend from the mountains. The chief centres are Yarkand and Kashgar. Zungaria is a relatively low and fertile steppe land, leading from the low-lands of Southern Siberia to the Mongolian plateau.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A Class-Book of Modern Geography|first=William|last=Hughes|publisher=G. Philip & son|year=1892|page=238|quote=Zungaria includes the wild and desolate region between the Thian-Shan and the Altai Mountains, and is bounded by Eastern Turkestan on the ''south'', and by Russian Central Asia on the ''west''.}}</ref> Tursun Rakhimov, a Uyghur historian for the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] during the Sino-Soviet split,<ref>{{Cite journal|title=none|journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers|volume=17|publisher=Canadian Association of Slavists|year=1975|page=352|quote=[Tursun Rakhimov] is not only the author and editor of a number of Uighur linguistic studies, but also an expert on articles about the persecution of the national minorities in the PRC. One may say that this 'personal union' of the Uighur scholar and the Soviet propagandist once more illustrates the intense interdependence of the status of the Soviet Uighurs and their role in Soviet Policy.}}</ref> argued in his 1981 book "Fate of the Non-Han Peoples of the PRC" that "both" East Turkestan and Dzungaria were conquered by China and "renamed" Xinjiang. Occasionally, he used East Turkestan and Xinjiang interchangeably.<ref name="Ildiko 2007">{{Cite book|title=Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia|author=Bellér-Hann, Ildikó|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|year=2007|pages=4–5, 32–40}}</ref> Concurrently, during the [[Cultural Revolution]] and the Revolution's campaigns against "local nationalism", the government had come to associate the term East Turkestan with Uyghur separatism and "{{ill|foreign hostile force|lt=foreign hostile forces|zh|境外敵對勢力}}" and forbade its usage.<ref name="Rahman"/> Uyghur nationalist historian [[Turghun Almas]] and his book [[Uyghurlar]] (The Uyghurs) and Uyghur nationalist accounts of history were galvanized by Soviet stances on history, "firmly grounded" in Soviet Turcological works, and both heavily influenced and partially created by Soviet historians and Soviet works on Turkic peoples.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA41 Bellér-Hann 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822011225/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA41 |date=August 22, 2016 }}, p. 42.</ref> Soviet historiography spawned the rendering of Uyghur history found in Uyghurlar.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA33 Bellér-Hann 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822000313/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA33 |date=August 22, 2016 }}, p. 33.</ref> Almas claimed that Central Asia was "the motherland of the Uyghurs" and also the "ancient golden cradle of world culture".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA4 Bellér-Hann 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822075718/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA4 |date=August 22, 2016 }}, p. 4.</ref> The global trends set by the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in the 1990s and the rise of global [[Islamism]]<ref name="Starr"/> and [[pan-Turkism]]<ref>{{cite book |title = Strategic Interests in the Middle East: Opposition and Support for US Foreign Policy |first1=Jack|last1=Covarrubias|first2=Tom|last2=Lansford|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|year=2007|page=91}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Turkey Today: A European Country?|first=Olivier|last=Roy|author-link=Olivier Roy (professor)|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2005|page=20}}</ref> revived separatist sentiments in Xinjiang and led to a wave of political violence that killed 162 people between 1990 and 2001.<ref name="Rumer"/>

===21st century===
In 2001, the government of China lifted its ban on state media's using the terms "Uyghurstan"<ref name="Starr"/> or "East Turkestan",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/publications/pdf/xuar.pdf |title=Ethnic Conflict Prevention in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region: New Models for China's New Region |first=Dru |last=Gladney |date=July 20, 2002 |access-date=February 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928065437/http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/publications/pdf/xuar.pdf |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> as part of a general opening up after the [[September 11 attacks]] to the world about political violence in Xinjiang and a plea for international help to suppress East Turkestan terrorists.<ref name="APCSS" /><ref name="Rumer" /> In 2004, the [[East Turkistan Government in Exile]] was established in Washington, D.C. under the leadership of [[Anwar Yusuf Turani]] to strive for East Turkistan's independence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Voice of America Report on Chinese Opposition of ETGIE |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voice_of_America_Report_on_Chinese_Opposition_of_ETGIE.ogg |agency=Voice of America News |date=September 14, 2004}}</ref> To justify the PRC's claim to East Turkestan, a white paper was published in 2019 which made a statement that 'East Turkestan' never existed and it was only called 'Xinjiang' and been part of China since early history.<ref name="jpolrisk">{{cite web |title=Genocide as Nation Building: China's Historically Evolving Policy in East Turkistan |website=The Journal of Political Risk |url=https://www.jpolrisk.com/genocide-as-nation-building-chinas-historically-evolving-policy-in-east-turkistan/ |author=Rukiye Turdush, Uyhgur Research Institute |date=August 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211220095216/https://www.jpolrisk.com/genocide-as-nation-building-chinas-historically-evolving-policy-in-east-turkistan/ |archive-date=December 20, 2021 |access-date=December 20, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="jpolrisk"/>

On February 28, 2017, it was announced by the [[Qira County]] government in [[Hotan Prefecture]] that those who reported others for stitching the '[[Star and crescent|star and crescent moon]]' insignia on their clothing or personal items or having the words 'East Turkestan' on their mobile phone case, purse, or other jewelry, would be eligible for cash payments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/searches-04042017172301.html|title=Xinjiang Police Search Uyghur Homes For 'Illegal Items'|website=[[Radio Free Asia]]|date=April 4, 2017|access-date=December 16, 2019|quote=A second announcement, issued February 28 by the Chira (Cele) county government, said those who report individuals for having "stitched the 'star and crescent moon' insignia on their clothing or personal items" or the words "East Turkestan"—referring to the name of a short-lived Uyghur republic—on their mobile phone case, purse or other jewelry, were also eligible for cash payments.|translator=Mamatjan Juma |author=Joshua Lipes |author2=Jilil Kashgary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216090012/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/searches-04042017172301.html|archive-date=December 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Current status ==
{{further|Xinjiang conflict}}
As the [[history of Xinjiang]] in particular is contested between the [[government of China]] and [[East Turkestan independence movement|Uyghur separatists]], the official and common name of [[Xinjiang]] (with its [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] [[loanword]] counterpart, ''Shinjang'') is rejected by those seeking independence.<ref name="Starr">{{Cite book|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |last=Starr |first = S. Frederick |publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]]|year=2004|pages=6–7, 11, 14}}</ref> "East Turkestan", a term of Russian origin, asserts a continuity with a "West Turkestan" or the now-independent states of [[Soviet Central Asia]].<ref name="Ildiko 2007" /> Not all of those states accept the designation of "Turkestan", however. For instance, [[Tajikistan]]'s [[Persian language|Persian]]-speaking population feels more closely aligned with [[Iran]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Humphrey">{{cite book |title = The End of Nomadism? Society, State, and the Environment in Inner Asia |first1=Caroline|last1=Humphrey |author1-link = Caroline Humphrey |first2=David|last2=Sneath|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|year=1999 |pages = v–vi }}</ref> For separatists,<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4406836.ece |title=Islamist bombers target Olympics |first=Michael |last=Sheridan| date=July 27, 2008 |access-date=February 5, 2011 |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |quote=The group may be allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – designated a terrorist organisation by the US, China and several other countries – which seeks independence for the Muslim Uighur people of China's far west province of Xinjiang, which Uighur separatists call East Turkestan. |location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="Chung">{{Cite journal |title = China's "War on Terror": September 11 and Uighur Separatism |author1-link=Chung Chien-peng |last = Chung |first = Chien-peng |date = July–August 2002 |journal = [[Foreign Affairs]] |volume = 81 |issue = 4 |pages = 8–12 |url = http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/58030/chien-peng-chung/chinas-war-on-terror-september-11-and-uighur-separatism |quote = Beijing now labels as terrorists those who are fighting for an independent state in the northwestern province of Xinjiang, which the separatists call "Eastern Turkestan." |doi = 10.2307/20033235 |jstor = 20033235 |access-date = February 6, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141211020042/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/58030/chien-peng-chung/chinas-war-on-terror-september-11-and-uighur-separatism |archive-date = December 11, 2014 |url-status = live |url-access = subscription }}</ref> East Turkestan is coterminous with [[Xinjiang]] or the independent state that [[East Turkestan independence movement|they would like to lead]] in Xinjiang.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/world/asia/10uighur.html|title=Chinese Separatists Tied to Norway Bomb Plot|first=Edward|last=Wong|author-link=Edward Wong|location=Beijing|date=July 9, 2010|access-date=February 5, 2011|quote=Many Uighurs call Xinjiang their homeland, and some want an independent state there called East Turkestan.|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827030334/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/world/asia/10uighur.html|archive-date=August 27, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Rahman"/> Some Chinese scholars have advocated a name change for the region or a reversion to the older term [[Western Regions|Xiyu]] ("Western Regions"), arguing that "Xinjiang" might mislead people into thinking that Xinjiang is "new" to China. Other scholars defend the name, noting that Xinjiang was new to the late [[Qing dynasty]], which gave Xinjiang its current name.<ref name="Rahman"/>

[[File:Uyghurprotest DC 2.jpg|alt=Uyghur anti-China demonstration in Washington, D.C.|thumb|right|The term "East Turkestan" is primarily used by, and is associated with, Uyghur separatists ([[Diaspora|diasporic]] protest in Washington, D.C. shown)]]

In modern separatist usage,<ref name="Starr"/> "Uyghuristan", which means "land of the Uyghurs", is a synonym for Xinjiang or a potential state in Xinjiang,<ref name="APCSS">{{Cite web|url=http://www.apcss.org/Publications/APCSS--%20Uyghur%20Muslim%20Separatism%20in%20Xinjiang.doc|title=Uyghur Muslim Ethnic Separatism in Xinjiang, China|author=Van Wie Davis, Elizabeth|author-link=Elizabeth Van Wie Davis|publisher=[[Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies]]|date=January 2008|quote=The desired outcome by groups that use violence is, broadly speaking, a separate Uyghur state, called either Uyghuristan or Eastern Turkistan, which lays claim to a large part of China.... The largest [Muslim] group, the Hui who have blended fairly well into Chinese society, regard some Uyghurs as unpatriotic separatists who give other Chinese Muslims a bad name.... China's official statement on "East Turkestan terrorists" published in January 2002 listed several groups allegedly responsible for violence|access-date=February 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101305/http://apcss.org/Publications/APCSS--%20Uyghur%20Muslim%20Separatism%20in%20Xinjiang.doc|archive-date=October 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> like "East Turkestan".<ref name="bovingdon4">{{Cite book | last=Bovingdon | first=Gardner | title=Autonomy in Xinjiang: Han nationalist imperatives and Uyghur discontent | publisher=East-West Center | series=Political Studies 15 | url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS011.pdf | location=Washington | year=2005 | isbn=1-932728-20-1 | pages=17 | access-date=February 6, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912055725/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS011.pdf | archive-date=September 12, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Shulsky">{{Cite book|title=Deterrence Theory and Chinese Behavior|author=Shulsky, Abram N.|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|year=2000|page=13}}</ref> There is no consensus among separatists about whether to use "East Turkestan" or "Uyghurstan".<ref name="Ildiko 2008"/> "East Turkestan" has the advantage of also being the name of two historic political entities in the region, while "Uyghurstan" appeals to modern ideas of ethnic [[self-determination]]. East Turkistan was also used in the context of Yaqub Beg's Kashgaria in the mid-1800s. Uyghurstan is also a difference in emphasis in that it excludes more peoples in Xinjiang than just the [[Han Chinese|Han]],<ref name="Priniotakis">{{Cite journal|url=http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=chinas_secret_separatists|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171011101543/http://prospect.org/article/chinas-secret-separatists|archive-date=October 11, 2017|title=China's Secret Separatists: Uyghuristan's Ever-Lengthening Path to Independence|journal=[[The American Prospect]]|date=October 26, 2001|access-date=February 5, 2011|first=Manolis|last=Priniotakis}}</ref> but the "East Turkestan" movement<ref name="Pan">{{Cite journal|url=http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/CEF/Quarterly/May_2006/Guang.pdf|title=East Turkestan Terrorism and the Terrorist Arc: China's Post-9/11 Anti-Terror Strategy|first=Guang|last=Pan|author-link=Pan Guang|journal=China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly|publisher=[[Central Asia-Caucasus Institute]] and [[Silk Road Studies Program]]|volume=4|number=2|year=2006|pages=19–24|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110106141633/http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/CEF/Quarterly/May_2006/Guang.pdf|archive-date=January 6, 2011 }}</ref> is still a [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] phenomenon. [[Kazakhs]] and [[Hui people|Hui]] Muslims are largely alienated from the movement,<ref name="APCSS"/> as are Uyghurs who live closer to the eastern provinces of China. Separatist sentiment is strongest among the Uyghur [[diaspora]],<ref name="Starr"/> who practice what has been called "cyber-separatism", encouraging the use of "East Turkestan" on their websites and literature.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk/dl/TamingChina%27sWildWest.PDF|title=Taming China's 'Wild West': Ethnic Conflict in Xinjiang|last=Moneyhon|first=Matthew D.|journal=Peace, Conflict, and Development|issue=5|date=October 2003|pages=9, 17|access-date=February 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103022244/http://www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk/dl/TamingChina%27sWildWest.PDF|archive-date=January 3, 2011}}</ref> Historically, "Uyghurstan" referred to the northeastern oasis region of "[[Hami|Kumul]]-[[Turpan|Turfan]]".<ref name="Gladney">{{Cite journal|title=The Ethnogenesis of the Uighur|author=Gladney, Dru C|journal=Central Asian Survey|volume=9|issue=1|pages=1–28|doi=10.1080/02634939008400687|year=1990}}</ref> "Chinese Turkestan", while synonymous with East Turkestan in historical terms,<ref name="Herbertson"/> is not used today, rejected by Uyghur separatists for the "Chinese" part of the name and by China for the "Turkestan" part.<ref name="Millward">{{Cite book|title=Eurasian Crossroads:A History of Xinjiang|author=Millward, James A.|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2007|pages=ix–x, 95}}</ref>
In China, the terms "East Turkestan", "Uyghurstan",<ref name="Priniotakis"/> and even "Turkestan" alone connote old Western imperialism and the past East Turkestan republics and modern militant groups, such as the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]] (ETIM). The government of China conflates the violence of differing separatist groups, such as the ETIM and the [[East Turkestan Liberation Organization]], as coming simply from "East Turkestan forces".<ref name="Millward"/> Chinese [[diplomatic mission]]s have objected to foreigners' use of "East Turkestan". They argue that the term is political and no longer geographical or historical and that its use represents "a provocation" to the sovereignty of China.<ref name="Rahman"/> The historical definitions for "East Turkestan" are multifarious and ambiguous, reflecting that, outside of Chinese administration,<ref name="Ildiko 2008"/> the area now called "Xinjiang" was not geographically or demographically a single region.<ref name="Starr"/>

The territorial definition, as claimed by the East Turkistan Government in Exile<ref name="East Turkistan at a Glance">{{cite web |title=East Turkistan at a Glance |url=https://east-turkistan.net/east-turkistan-at-a-glance/ |website=East Turkistan Government in Exile |date=March 4, 2021 |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref> and International Support for Uyghurs,<ref>{{cite web |title=East Turkistan|url=https://www.isupportuyghurs.org/en/east-turkistan/where-is-east-turkestan |website=International Support For Uyghurs |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref> includes the bulk of Xinjiang (excluding the disputed territory of [[Aksai Chin]]), as well as parts of western [[Gansu]] (including [[Subei Mongol Autonomous County]], [[Aksay Kazakh Autonomous County]], [[Dunhuang]] city, and [[Guazhou County]]) and [[Qinghai]] ([[Lenghu]] and [[Mangnai]]). The [[World Uyghur Congress]] considers East Turkestan to be the area of Xinjiang along with territory claimed to be annexed by a "neighboring Chinese province" in 1949.<ref>{{cite web |title=East Turkistan |url=https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/east-turkestan-2/ |website=World Uyghur Congress |date=September 29, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2023 |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519013346/https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/east-turkestan-2/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Afghan Turkestan]]
* [[Chinese Turkestan]]
* [[East Turkestan independence movement]]
* [[East Turkistan Government in Exile]]
* [[History of the Uyghur people]]
* [[Xinjiang internment camps]]
* [[Pan-Islamism]] and [[Pan-Turkism]]
* [[Turkic migration]]
* [[Qurtulush Yolida]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Wiktionary|East Turkestan|East Turkistan}}
*{{citation|last=Bregel|first=Yuri|year=2003|title=An Historical Atlas of Central Asia|publisher=Brill}}
* ''East Turkistan to the Twelfth Century'' (by William Samolin, 1964)

{{Xinjiang topics}}
{{East Asian topics}}
{{UNPO}}
{{Ethnic nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Geography of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:East Turkestan independence movement|.]]
[[Category:Geopolitical terminology]]
[[Category:Islam in China]]
[[Category:Political controversies in China]]
[[Category:Regions of China]]
[[Category:Separatism in China]]
[[Category:Turkestan]]
[[Category:Xinjiang conflict]]
[[Category:1820s neologisms]]
[[Category:Proposed countries]]
[[Category:Turkic toponyms]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]