East Turkestan Liberation Organization

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

The organization was established in Turkey in late 1997 to fight against the Chinese government in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.^[7]

In 1998, ETLO members were accused by the government of China of organizing 15 arson incidents in Ürümqi, and in 1999, Istanbul police arrested 10 ETLO members for a series of attacks on Chinese people in Turkey.^[8]

Since 9/11, 2001, China has effectively used the international climate to build an international coalition against Uyghur separatist movements.^[9]

In a 2002 Chinese documentary, "On the Spot Report: The Crimes of Eastern Turkestan Terrorist Power," Wang Mingshan, Deputy Director-General of the Yili-Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Department, claimed that in 1998 Mehmet Emin Hazret, the leader of the ETLO, ordered Hamid Mehmetjan, an Egyptian ETLO member, to go to China to recruit members, receive a delivery of weapons on 6 April, and to compile a list of targets for assassination and bombings in Xinjiang. Mingshan also claimed that police and ETLO members exchanged gunfire on 24 April 1998, and that members later stated during interrogation that they were trained at camps in Afghanistan.^[10]

On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of East Turkestan terrorists and terrorist organizations which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the World Uyghur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC).^[11] At the same time, the official Chinese press initiated a campaign detailing terrorist incidents allegedly carried out by the individuals listed. Amnesty International regarded these allegations "uncorroborated and no credible evidence was provided to substantiate these claims. Indeed, much of the "evidence" appeared to have been obtained from other individuals under interrogation. In view of the ongoing and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by police in China, particularly to extract confessions from detained suspects, Amnesty International believes any "evidence" obtained in this way must be treated with deep suspicion."^[7] In January, Hazret, who avoids public appearances, called into Radio Free Asia to respond that ETLO wishes to work by peaceful means, but spoke of the "inevitability" of a military wing targeting the Chinese government.^[8] He also stated that the principal goal of the ETLO was to pursue independence through peaceful means,^[12][13] and denied any participation in terrorist activities or connections to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.^[12] Amnesty International has criticized the Chinese government response to ETLO, which it says include human rights violations, such as torture and ill-treatment by police.^[7]

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members of China,^[14] Kazakhstan,^[15] and Kyrgyzstan, respectively,^[4] have designated ETLO as a terrorist organization. According to Amnesty International, the listing of ETIM and ETLO was in keeping with previous allegations made by China against these groups. Both were highlighted in China's official report on East Turkestan terrorists of January 2002.^[7]

The organization operates primarily in Xinjiang, China, but also throughout Central Asia and in Pakistan. The ETLO is allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the Taliban.^{[citation needed]} Kazakhstan banned the ETLO, designating it a terrorist organization, on 17 November 2006. The United States State Department says the ETLO has engaged "small politically-motivated bombings and armed attacks".^[15] Al-Qaeda are alleged to give funding and training to the ETLO and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.^[16][17]

• East Turkestan independence movement
• East Turkestan Islamic Movement
• 2008 Uyghur unrest