East Turkestan Liberation Organization
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The East Turkistan Liberation Organization (Sharqiy Türkistan Azatliq Tashkilati) is a Muslim armed separatist group operating in Xinjiang, China and Kyrgyzstan. It is an arm of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and has links to Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the ETLO declared they will use "all means necessary" to fight against the government of the People's Republic of China. This is the first time any East Turkestan separatist movement openly declared armed conflict. The ETLO sent a tape to the East Turkestan Information Center based in Munich, Germany, which was then forwarded to BBC China. By analyzing the internet information, the tape was found to be released on 26 September using a free ISP. According to the tape, the content is from ETLO's Tianshan branch. The tape showed 3 masked men holding automatic rifles, with the ETLO's crescent flag in the background, calling in Uighur for the Uighur people to disrupt the celebration of the 50 years of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and that they will use any means necessary to achieve that.
