East Turkestan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
East Turkestan (also transliterated: East Turkistan; Uyghur: Sherqiy Türkistan), also known as Uyghurstan, is the part of greater Turkistan in Xinjiang, China and far eastern Central Asia. The area is largely inhabited by Turkic people. Famed merchant and explorer Marco Polo crossed Turkistan in the year 1272.
The greater Turkistan is subdivided into West (former Soviet Union countries) and East Turkestan (administered as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by the PRC, titled Uyghurstan by Uyghur separatists). The Tian Shan (Tengri Tagh) and Pamir ranges form the rough division between the two Turkistans. East Turkistan (Modern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region ) contains some of the great cities of Turkic culture, notably Kashgar, Hotan, Turfan, Yarkand, Ili (Ghulja), Kumul, Aqsu, Kucha and Altay.
East Turkestan also refers to the broader East Turkestan independence movement, the First East Turkestan Republic, a short-lived state that existed from 1933 to 1934 in the area surrounding Kashgar, the Second East Turkestan Republic that existed from 1944 until the Communist Party of China's People's Liberation Army annexed the area in 1949.
[edit] External links
- Freedom, Independence and Democracy for East Turkistan!– East Turkistan Information Center
- similar site
- East Turkistan Information
