Istanbul [Turkey], February 5 : Uyghur activists gathered near the Chinese Consulate in Sariyer, Istanbul, on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the 1997 Gulja massacre.
Around 1,000 to 1,200 Uyghur men, women, and children gathered in response the protest call given by the International Union of East Turkestan Organisations, Uluslararasi Dogu Tirkestan Stk'lar Birligi (IUETO/UDTSB).
The event began around 11 am (local time) with the recitation of Quranic verses.
Moreover, Uyghur leader and IUETO Chairman Hidayet Oguzhan addressed the gathering and gave a press statement condemning the Chinese authorities for the Gulja massacre and reminded those gathered of other such incidents in Barin, Hotan, Yarkand and Urumqi in East Turkestan.
Oguzhan also protested the continuing Chinese policies of 'internment' and cultural genocide.
Thousands of Uyghurs in Ghulja, 27 years ago, chose to speak out against decades of oppression by successive Chinese governments, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said in a statement.
Ever since, the Chinese government has continued its attack on all fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Uyghur people. Since 2017 with the "Strike Hard Campaign", the Chinese government's campaign against "terrorism and extremism", these human rights abuses have developed into crimes against humanity and genocide.
"Many Uyghurs continue to be imprisoned for their involvement in the Ghulja demonstrations, and the repressive policies enacted in East Turkistan continue to threaten the lives of Uyghurs, who are forcefully disappeared, imprisoned, detained, and subjected to forced labour," the WUC stated.
Alim Jan Boghda, head of Uyghur Religious Scholars Union urged the people to not believe the Chinese propoganda of normalcy in East Turkestan.
Journalist and writer, Adem Ozkose, dared Chinese authorities to open East Turkestan to journalists and humanitarian organizations.
Meanwhile, World Uyghur Congress representative Abdul Hamit Abdul Rashid also addressed the gathering.
Notably, Turkiye is home to one of the largest Uyghur diaspora who continue to demand independence and end of atrocities in East Turkestan.
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