Turkistan Islamic Party

Turkestan Islamic Party
Turkistan Islamic Party
Active	1997 – present
Ideology	Uyghur nationalism Sunni Islamism Islamic fundamentalism Pan-Islamism
Leaders	Hasan Mahsum † Abdul Haq[1] Abdul Shakoor al-Turkistani † Abdullah Mansour[2]
Headquarters	North Waziristan, Pakistan
Area of operations	China (Xinjiang) Pakistan (North Waziristan) Afghanistan Central Asia Syria[3]
Allies	Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan al-Qaeda Nusra Front Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan[4] East Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association (ETESA)[5]  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Opponents	China Pakistan[6][7] Syria[3] Hezbollah (in Syria)[8] Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (in Syria)[8] Afghanistan[9] Kazakhstan Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan[10][11][12][13][14] Russia (in Syria)

The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) Turkistan Islam Partisi (Uyghur: تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى‎) Ḥizb al-Islāmī al-Turkistānī (Arabic: الحزب الإسلامي التركستاني‎) or Ḥizb al-Islāmī li-Turkistān (Arabic: الحزب الإسلامي لتركستان‎), or in Turkish: Türkistan İslam Cemaati (Turkistan Islam Jamaat) or Türkistan İslam Partisi, or East Turkistan Islamic Party^[15] (ETIP) (حزب الإسلام لتركستان الشرقية), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (Arabic: حركة شرق تركستان الإسلامية‎), and other names,^[a] is an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization founded by Uyghur militants in western China. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan from China, the establishment of an Islamic state across the entire Central Asia and a caliphate. According to the Chinese government, it is a violent separatist movement and is often responsible for terrorist attacks in Xinjiang.^[16] According to Chinese report, published in 2002, between 1990 to 2001 ETIM had reportedly committed over 200 acts of terrorism, resulting in at least 162 deaths and over 440 injuries.^[17] Since the September 11 attacks, the group has been designated as a terrorist organization by Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates,^[18] China, and the United States.^[19]

History

"1- Who are we? We are a group of workers for Islam and the Mujahideen for the cause of Allah to save the worshipers from the worshiping of worshipers [so that they can] worship the lord of the worshipers all over [the world] in general and Turkistan in particular. [This group] arose so that its members could cooperate on tawhid and purity and Allah-fearing and jihad for the cause of Allah, so as to liberate East Muslim Turkistan from the infidel Communist Chinese invasion and repulsing its invasion from religion of the Muslims and their honor and souls and money so as to establish Allah's pure religion, and empowering the Islamic Shari'a in Turkistan, and cooperate with the Mujahideen Muslims in the name of Allah all over the Muslim world to restore the wise Islamic caliphate and empower Allah's Shari'ah on the world." - Charter of the Turkistan Islamic Party - The Media Center of the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[20]

"Third: Working and cooperating with all the Jihadi groups for the cause of Allah everywhere, so as to repulse the invasion of the infidel from them, and establishing Allah's Shar'iah everywhere. "Say thou: 'This is my way: I do invite unto Allah,- on evidence clear as the seeing with one's eyes,- I and whoever follows me. Glory to Allah. and never will I join gods with Allah.'" {Yusuf :108}" - Charter of the Turkistan Islamic Party - The Media Center of the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[20]

"If you do not wage jihad, you will never be able to get rid of the oppression of the infidels which makes you abandon the religion and which makes slaves of you. Thus, you will not be able to be rescued from the oppression of this world and the torments of the hereafter, or find eternal happiness until you return to the religion of Allah. . ." - Abdul Haq (Memetiming Memeti), a commander in the Uyghur separatist movement Turkistan Islamic Party (East Turkestan Islamic Movement), from a video released by TIP, February 9. 2009.^[21]

"We are, Allah-willing, proceeding along this path with all of our strength in order to rescue our oppressed brothers in East Turkistan – and Allah-willing, we are working on rescuing our oppressed brothers from the hands of the Communists until we make Allah’s religion supreme and we live a precious life in the shadow of Islamic Shariah law, or else be rewarded with martyrdom in the cause of Allah We are plotting for the Chinese to suffer the torture of Allah, or else by our hands " - Abdul Haq, leader of the Uyghur separatist movement Turkistan Islamic Party (East Turkestan Islamic Movement), from "Steadfastness and Preparations for Jihad in the Cause of Allah." Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), January 20, 2009.^[22]

"Anyone who is familiar with the battles that the mujahideen are engaged in today will know that the path of Jihad is the only path to prevent attacks and injustice [against us]... and, the suffering of the Americans is on the rise in Iraq due to the operations of the mujahideen... As a result of these operations, America was forced to withdraw fr om Iraq, and still it has not learned its lesson. Today, it is once again drinking [from] the cup of failure in Afghanistan as it gasps for breath, [looking] to avoid defeat and withdrawal—and now it is fighting the dizziness of death. Those kind of results could never have been achieved with writings and speeches."

"Meanwhile, with regards to the situation in East Turkestan which was once part of the Islamic nation and is now under the domination of the unjust infidel Communists, the confrontation is still ongoing between the mujahideen and the invading occupiers. And, Allah-willing, the operations of the mujahideen in East Turkestan will make the Chinese suffer just as America suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan, from shame, sc andal, and defeat... In 1997, the mujahideen of East Turkestan gathered under the leadership of Commander Hasan Mahsum beyond the borders of our land, and they were graced by ch oosing the path of training within the shadow of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan— as they were prohibited and forbidden from doing so in their own country because of the Chinese occupation. We used to be able to live in our land, and we knew the ways of living, but we abandoned ou r homes in order to support the oppressed and to remove the injustices committed against all Muslims. [We left] in order to try and gain our sovereignty from communist China, and for the sake of providing our people a carefree and happy existence under the shadow of the Quran and Sunnah. During this period of time, a large number of mujahideen from East Turkestan received training... Later, during this critical period, the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan was destroyed at the hands of the Zionist-Crusader assault launched under the lead of America... Nonetheless, the mujahideen of East Turkestan were able to continue their jihadi operations even after the collapse of the Islamic Emirate, thanks be to Allah." - TIP Narrator, from "Steadfastness and Preparations for Jihad in the Cause of Allah." Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), January 20, 2009.^[23]

"We have to conquer our own country and purify it of all infidels. Then, we should conquer the infidels’ countries and spread Islam. The infidels who are usurping our countries have announced war against Islam and Muslims, forcing Muslims to abandon Islam and change their beliefs." - Abdullah Mansour, leader of the Uyghur separatist movement Turkistan Islamic Party (East Turkestan Islamic Movement), from "The Duty of Faith and Support," Voice of Islam/al-Fajr Media Center, August 26, 2009.^[24]

The area known as Xinjiang had been a protectorate of China as early as 60 BC during the Han dynasty when it was part of the Protectorate of the Western Regions and also a protectorate of Tang dynasty China when it was part of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West, though there are numerous periods of independence from China. The historical area of what is modern day Xinjiang consisted of the distinct areas of the Tarim Basin and Dzungaria, and was originally populated by Indo-European Tocharian and Iranic Saka peoples who practiced the Buddhist religion. The area was subjected to Turkification and Islamification at the hands of invading Turkic Muslims during the Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang. In the 18th century the Qing Dynasty reorganized the territory as a province, Xinjiang.^[25] Yet, Russian influence was strong. Russian Orthodox Old Believers emigrated from Russia to Xinjiang in the early 19th century, and the Russian Civil War accelerated this immigration by adding white émigrés.^[26] During China's warlord era in the 1910s-1920s, the Soviet Union propped up the separatist Second East Turkestan Republic, and only accepted Chinese rule when the Chinese communists established the People's Republic of China after the Chinese Civil War.^[27] Nevertheless, the Soviet Union distributed Soviet passports among the Central Asian ethnics in Xinjiang to facilitate emigration to Kazakh SSR.^[26] After the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union amassed troops on the Russian border with Xinjiang, and bolstered "East Turkestan" separatist movements, which received moral and material support from other regional militant groups.^[28] China accused the Soviets of engineering riots, and improved the military infrastructure there to combat it.^[26]

"Our group, the Turkistan Islamic Party, is a group established as a continuation of the East Turkistan Jihad Movement in the year of 1989 under the unique leadership of Ziyauddin Yusuf." - Abdul Haq (Memetiming Memeti), a commander in the Uyghur separatist movement Turkistan Islamic Party (East Turkestan Islamic Movement).^[29]

Abdul Hameed, Abdul Azeez Makhdoom, and Hakeem Makhdoom launched the Islamic Party of Turkistan (حزب الإسلام لتركستان) (Hizbul Islam Li-Turkistan) in 1940.^[29] After being set free from prison in 1979, Abdul Hakeem instructed Hasan Mahsum and other Uyghurs in fundamentalist Islam.^[30]

In 1989 Ziyauddin Yusuf (pronounced Zeydin Yusup in Uyghur) started the group which was originally called East Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIP) in Arabic as (حزب الإسلام لتركستان الشرقية) Hizbul Islam Li-Turkistan Ash-Sharqiyah.^[29] The name in Uyghur was (شەرقىي تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى) Sharki Turkistan Islam Partisi,^[31] and in Turkish it was called Doğu Türkistan İslam Partisi.^[32] Hasan Mahsum and Abudukadir Yapuquan reorganized the movement in 1997, in the same form that it exists today.^[33] This group was referred to as "East Turkestan Islamic Movement" (ETIM) by the Chinese government but the group itself never used that name. In 1998 Mahsum moved ETIM's headquarters to Kabul, taking shelter under Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, ETIM leaders met with Osama bin Laden and other leaders of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to coordinate actions. There, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement dropped the "East" from its name as it increased its domain.^[34] The group's infrastructure was crippled after the United States invaded Afghanistan and bombed Al Qaeda bases in the mountainous regions along the border with Pakistan, during which the leader of ETIM, Hasan Mahsum, was killed.^[35]

However, ETIM resurged after the Iraq War inflamed mujaheddin sentiment.^[36] It expanded its portfolio to attacks on United States interests, such as the U.S. embassy in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). The United States Department of State responded by listing it as a terrorist organization. This greatly weakened ETIM, as it lost sympathy from many Western organizations who would otherwise support its struggle against China. Nonetheless, ETIM circulated a video in 2006 calling for a renewed jihad, and took advantage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing to gain publicity for its attacks.^[34] The ETIM is said to be allied with the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan) leading Pakistan being seriously urged by China to take action against militants.^[37]

The new organization called itself the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and abandoned usage of the name ETIM, although China still calls it by the name ETIM and refuses to acknowledge it as TIP.^[38] The Turkistan Islamic Party was originally subordinated to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) but then split off and declared its name as TIP and started making itself known by promoting itself with its Islamic Turkistan magazine and Voice of Islam media in Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and Turkish in order to reach out to global jihadists.^[39] Control over the Uyghur and Uzbek militants was transferred to the Pakistani Taliban from the Afghan Taliban after 2001, so violence against the militant's countries of origins can no longer restrained by the Afghan Taliban since the Pakistani Taliban does not have a stake in doing so.^[40][41] TIP's Ṣawt al-Islām (Voice of Islam) media arm has released many video messages.^{[42][43][44][45][46][47]} The full name of their media center is "Turkistan Islamic Party Voice of Islam Media Center" Uyghur: (تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى ئىسلام ئاۋازى تەشۋىقات مەركىزى) Arabic: («المركز الإعلامي للحزب الإسلامي التركستاني «صوت الإسلام).

The Uyghur East Turkestan Islamic Movement's magazine Islamic Turkistan has accused the Chinese "Muslim Brotherhood" Yihewani of being responsible for the moderation of Hui Muslims and the lack of Hui joining terrorist jihadist groups in addition to blaming other things for the lack of Hui Jihadists, such as the fact that for more than 300 years Hui and Uyghurs have been enemies of each other, no separatist Islamist organizations among the Hui, the fact that the Hui view China as their home, and the fact that the "infidel Chinese" language is the language of the Hui.^[48][49]

Ideology

The NEFA Foundation, an American terrorist analyst foundation, translated and released a jihad article from ETIM, whose membership it said consisted primarily of "Uyghur Muslims from Western China." The East Turkestan Islamic Movement's primary goal is the independence of East Turkestan.^[50] ETIM continues this theme of contrasting "Muslims" and "Chinese", in a six-minute video in 2008, where "Commander Seyfullah" warns Muslims not to bring their children to the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also saying "do not stay on the same bus, on the same train, on the same plane, in the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are".^[51]

Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna has said that ETIM is closely associated with the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), and that there are "many sympathizers and supporters" of ETIM in the WUC. China has accused the WUC of orchestrating the 2009 ethnic violence in Urumqi; similarly, Gunaratna said that one of ETIM's aims is to "fuel hatred" and violence between the Han and the Uyghur ethnic groups, adding that it represented a threat to China and the Central Asia region as a whole.^[52]

Structure

In October 2008, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security released a list of eight terrorists linked to ETIM, including some of the leadership, with detailed charges.^[53] They are:

Name	Aliases	Charges	Whereabouts
Memetiming Memeti	Abdul Haq	Leading the organization, inciting ethnic tensions in 2006 and 2007, buying explosives, organizing terrorist attacks against the 2008 Summer Olympics	Thought to have been killed in North Waziristan drone attack[54][55] Resurfaced in 2014[1]
Emeti Yakuf (Emet Yakuf)	Aibu Abudureheman, Saifula, Abdul Jabar	Threatening to use biological and chemical weapons against servicepeople and Western politicians for the 2008 Olympics, disseminating manuals on explosives and poisons	Killed in North Waziristan drone attack[56]
Memetituersun Yiming (Memet Tursun Imin)	Abuduaini	Raised funds for ETIM, tested bombs in the run-up to the Olympics	Since 2008, Western Asia
Memetituersun Abuduhalike (Memet Tursun Abduxaliq)	Metusun Abuduhalike, Ansarui, Naijimuding	Attacked government organizations, money laundering for ETIM operations, buying vehicles and renting houses for attacks	Unknown
Xiamisidingaihemaiti Abudumijiti (Xemsidinahmet Abdumijit)	Saiyide	Recruiting for ETIM in the Middle East, blew up a Chinese supermarket	Unknown
Aikemilai Wumaierjiang (Akrem Omerjan)		Assisted Xiamisidingaihemaiti Abudumijiti in the supermarket attack	Unknown
Yakuf Memeti (Yakuf Memet)	Abudujilili Aimaiti, Abudula, Punjab	Sneaked into China illegally to gather information on Chinese neighborhoods, a failed suicide attack against oil refinery	Killed in North Waziristan drone attack[57]
Tuersun Toheti (Tursun Tohti)	Mubaixier, Nurula	Organizing a terror team for the 2008 Olympics, buying raw materials for them and requesting chemical formulas for explosives	Killed in North Waziristan drone attack[57]

al-Qaeda support

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (Turkistan Islamic Party) is allied with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan^[4] along with the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan)^[58] and Al-Qaeda.^[59][60]

One of the grievances against China by the TIP was that China implemented female and male equality.^[61]

Al Qaeda appointed TIP (ETIM) member Abdul Haq al Turkistani to their Shura Majlis.^[62] Al Qaeda also appointed TIP (ETIM) member Abdul Shakoor Turkistani as military commander of their forces in the FATA region of Pakistan.^[63]

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released a statement supporting Jihad in Xinjiang against Chinese, in the Caucasus against the Russians and naming Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan as places of warfare.^[64] Zawahiri endorsed "jihad to liberate every span of land of the Muslims that has been usurped and violated, from Kashgar to Andalusia, and from the Caucasus to Somalia and Central Africa".^[65] Uyghurs inhabit Kashgar, the city which was mentioned by Zawahiri.^[66] Zawahiri released another statement, saying : "My mujahideen brothers in all places and of all groups ... we face aggression from America, Europe, and Russia ... so it's up to us to stand together as one from East Turkestan to Morocco".^{[67][68][69][70][71]}

TIP released an image showing Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri meeting with Hasan Mahsum, the original and first leader of the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[72][73] For a while after he died, Osama bin Laden's successor was believed by some to be the ETIM leader Abdul Shakoor Turkistani because jihadist organizations have been powerfully influenced by ETIM.^[74]

TIP (ETIM) issued a eulogy for Doku Umarov of the Caucasian Emirate upon his death.^{[75][76][77][78]}

Al-Qaeda ideologue Mustafa Setmariam Nasar wrote in support of the East Turkestan Independence Movement.^[79] In 2006 Kavkaz Center reported that Al-Qaeda media arm Al-Fajr released a video urging Muslims to go on Jihad in support of the East Turkestan Independence Movement.

Al-Qaeda member Abu Yahya al-Libi spoke in support of "Jihad" in "East Turkestan" against China.^[80][81]

Islamist Hani al-Sibai spoke in support of the East Turkestan Independence Movement.^[82]

The Turkistan Islamic Party issued condolences for Taliban leader Mullah Omar upon his death.^[83][84][85]

With the goal of establishing a Central Asian Islamic state, Uyghurs, Chechens, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz Kazakhs, and other ethnicities flocked to serve under Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader Juma Namangani.^[86]

During the Battle of Kunduz in Afghanistan, foreign Islamist militants like Uyghurs, Chechens, Rohingya, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Uzbeks joined the Taliban in the attack.^{[87][88][89][90][91][92]} The Pakistani Army's Operation Zarb-e-Azb appears to have driven these foreign militants from Pakistan's northwestern area of Waziristan into Afghanistan.^{[93][94][95][96]} Non-Afghan militants like Arabs, Tajiks, Chechens, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, and Pakistanis make up 40% of anti-government fighters in Afghanistan according to Dawlat Waziri, a member of the Defense Ministry of Afghanistan.^{[97][98][99][100]} These militants cause a surge in fighting in 2015.^[101] Uyghurs, Chechens, and Uzbeks made up the majority of casualties in clashes against Afghan National Security Forces.^[9] TIP's Islam Awazi released photos and a video of their attacks against Afghan forces.^[102] The TIP released photos of one of its members killed in Afghanistan, Ebu Musa,^[103] and his sons.^[104][105] TIP released photos of attacks on Afghan forces,^[106] and NATO.^[107][108]

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria uses the Jihadist Shahada flag with the name of the group in Arabic below the shahada: (الحزب الإسلامي التركستاني لنصرة أهل الشام) "Turkistan Islamic Party for the Support of the People of al-Sham". TIP in Syria also calls itself by the name of "Turkistan Islamic Party in the land of al-Sham" (الحزب الإسلامي التركستاني في بلاد الشام). A Jabhat al Nusra member named Abu Rabah helped Uyghur militants start their first camp in Syria and a Turkish language website based in Turkey was launched to recruit "Uyghur mujahideen" to fight in Syria for the Al-Qaeda affiliated Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party.^[109] TIP (ETIM) sent the "Turkistan Brigade" (Katibat Turkistani) (Arabic:كتيبة تركستاني) to take part in the Syrian Civil War,^{[3][110][111][112]} most noticeably in the 2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive.^{[113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123]} Al-Qaeda linked groups in Syria include the Syrian branch of the Chechen Caucasus Emirate, Uzbek militants, and the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[124] The leader of TIP (ETIM) in Syria was Abu Rida al-Turkestani (أبو رضا التركستاني).^{[125][126][127][128][129]} Abu Rida Al-Turkestani gave a speech during the offensive in Jisr al-Shughur inviting "Muslims" from "East Turkestan" to come to Sham in order to "kill" "Nusayris" (Alawites).^[130] Abu Rida al-Turkestani gave a speech denouncing America and claiming Muslims are oppressed "in the land of Afghanistan, and in Turkestan, and in Waziristan, and in Burma, and in Bilad ash-Sham"^[131] In May 2015 in Jisr al-Shugour the Syrian army killed Abu Rida al-Turkestani near a hospital.^{[132][133][134][135][136]} TIP (ETIM) members in Syria fight alongside the Al-Qaeda branch Al Nusrah Front since TIP is allied to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and conducted suicide bombings for Nusrah Front.^[137][138] The Turkistan Islamic Party (Uighur), Al-Katibat al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Uzbek) and Junud al-Sham (Chechen) all coordinate with Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria.^[139][140] Turkistan Islamic Party works with the Caucasus Emirate linked group Junud al Sham and the Uzbek Katibat al Tawhid Wal Jihad.^[141] Members of TIP have been killed in battle in Syria.^[142] TIP (ETIM) eulogized and applauded members of its organization who participated in suicide bombings and members who were killed in action in Jisr al Shughur.^[143] Members of the group helped other Jihadists enforce religious law in Idlib such as wrecking alcohol in stores and this was noted that with "support of Allah and by the strike of the fist of the Mujahideen from the Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham and Turkistan," that they undertook these actions by a Syrian Jihadist in Jaysh al Fateh.^[144] A Jabhat Al Nusra Jihadist called Abu Mohamed Al-Ansari interviewed by VICE News after the Idlib offensive said that "The battle was good, praise be to God. The brothers from all the groups started working together and coordinating. Each faction is responsible for a side. The majority were immigrant brothers from Turkestan. They are the ones who attacked the important points."^[145][146] The spokesman of Jabhat Al-Nusra Abu Maria al-Qahtani claimed that Muslims were "oppressed" in "Turkestan" and that Nusra needs to "defend" them.^[147][148] TIP (ETIM) joined in on the Jihadist offensive in the Al-Ghab plain along with Al-Qaeda affiliated Jund al Aqsa against the Syrian army, referring to the Syrian army by the disparaging name "Nusayri".^{[149][150][151]} In Idlib four villages were seized by the Turkistan Islamic Party around August 2015.^[152] and the TIP said they "met with the brothers in Jund al Aqsa".^[153] The villages of Al-Ziyarah, Mishk, and Tal Wassit were taken by the TIP in August 2015 and TIP boasted that "With the favor of Allah and his support our Mujahideen brothers took war booty from the infidels" (بفضل الله ونصره إخواننا المجاهدون أخذوا الغنائم من الكفار).^{[154][155][156][157]} TIP also seized the village of Zayzun in August.^[158] The village Qarqur was also taken by the TIP.^{[159][160][161]} A BMP was destroyed by TIP at Qarqur.^[162] The village of Mansura, Hama fell to the TIP which released a video showing battlefield wreckage and boasted that "these are the BMPs and the tanks of the infidels destroyed by the Mujahideen". (هذه ب م ب والدبابات للكفار دمرت من قبل المجاهدين).^[163] The villages of Muhambal, Msheirfeh, and Farikah fell to the TIP.^[164] The villages of Tal Himka (Tal Hamkeh), Tal Awar (تل عوار), Ziadiyah (زياديه) and Mahattat Zayzun w:ar:المحطة الحرارية (زيزون) fell to the TIP.^[165][166] The Turkistan Islamic Party and Jabhat Al-Nusra launched a joint operation which overran the Syrian military's Abu Dhuhur airbase during the Siege of Abu al-Duhur Airbase.^{[167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180]} The Turkistan Islamic Party released photos of their Uyghur fighters at Abu Dhuhur.^{[181][182][183][184]} Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra and the Army of Conqest (Jaysh al Fatah) have been working with the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[185] At Abu Dhuhur, Sheikh Muhaysini (an Al-Qaeda linked Saudi cleric) took pictures with Turkistan Islamic Party which was released by Islam Awazi.^[186][187] Syrian regime military prisoners from Abu Dhuhur were exhibited in photos released by the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[188] VICE News included footage of the Turkistan Islamic Party's fighters in Abu Dhuhur airbase in its documentary Inside the Battle: Al Nusra-Al Qaeda in Syria.^[189][190] A video released by Turkistan Islamic Party featured Junud al-Sham deputy leader Abu Bakr al Shishani.^[191] The Turkistan Islamic Party's Islam Awazi released photos of its fighters in Syria.^[192]

After the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, TIP's Islam Awazi released photos and a video called "Scenes From the Recent Fighting in Sahal Al-Ghab" (مشاهد من المعارك الأخيرة في سهل الغاب) which showed its fighters in Al Ghab on the battlefield along with dead Syrian soldiers with captions that said: "standing up strongly to the Nusayri army and the Russians." (المجاهدين التركستانيين يتصدى بقوة للجيش النصيري ومن قبل الروس), "The corpses of the perishing infidels" (جثت الكفار الهالكين), "The Mujahideen destroy a BMB vehicle belonging to the Nusayri Army in Sahl al Ghab" (المجاهدون يدمرون عربة BMB للجيش النصيري في سهل الغاب), "The front lines of the Turkistani Mujahideen against the Nusayri army and Iranians and Russians in Sahl al Ghab" (رباط المجاهدين التركستانين ضد الجيش النصيري والإيراني والروسي في سهل الغاب) and "The Mujahideen standing strongly with the favor of Allah the mighty and sublime against the forces of the enemy and forcing them to withdraw in Sahl al Ghab." (يتصدى المجاهدون بفضل الله عز وجل بقوة للعدو وإرغامه وانسحاب في سهل الغاب).^{[193][194][195][196][197][198]} A second video of the battle in al Ghab was released by TIP.^{[199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208][209][210][211]} In response to the Russian-backed offensive by the Syrian Army, the Turkistan Islamic Party sent fighters to the Ghab Plain to support rebels in fighting against the Syrian Army, Iranian, and Hezbollah forces.^{[8][194][212]} The Syria-based, Al-Qaeda linked Saudi cleric Abdullah Muhammad Al-Muhaysini arranged for foreign fighters of multiple backgrounds to repeat the phrase "The Levant is the graveyard of the Russians", in a video message, among them was a fighter claiming to be from "East Turkestan".^[213][214] Jab al-Ahmar and Ghamaam in Latakia's countryside where Turkistan Islamic Party fighters were transferred from Idlib in response to the Russian intervention.^[215][216]

On 27 November, the Al-Qaeda branch Nusra Front and the Turkistan Islamic Party fought against pro-Syrian government and Hezbollah forces around Jabal Nuba,^[217] as the Syrian army bombarded them with artillery and Russian warplanes bombed Jabal al Akrad.^[218] Russian warplanes bombarded positions around Jab al Ahmar in Jabal al Akrad, Jabal Zahi in Jabal Turkman, and in al Kandisiya in Jabal Turkman, of the Turkistan Islamic Party and Nusra Front as they fought against the Ba'ath Brigades and Hezbollah.^[219] Both sides suffered casualties.^{[220][221][222][223]} The Syrian Army's intense artillery bombardment with hundreds of rockets killed 15 fighters of the Turkistan Islamic Party along with its military leader in Jabal Turkman.^[224] 30 fighters from the Turkistan Islamic Party were killed according to a statement released by the TIP.^[225][226]

On 27–28 November, the Turkistan Islamic Party and Jund al-Aqsa fought against Hezbollah in Aleppo.^[222][223]

On 29 November in Jisr al-Shughour the Turkistan Islamic Party's office was hit with bombs by Russian planes.^{[227][228][229][230][231][232][233][234]}

The Syrian army was attacked by the Turkistan Islamic Party around Jeb al-Ahmar and Salma in Latakia in response to the Syrian army's advance.^[235]

TIP's Islam Awazi released a photo showing the corpse of a beheaded Syrian army soldier, captioned : "The annihilation of one from the Nusayri regime gangs at the hands of the mujahideen - Ghamaam in Jebel Turkman" (هلاك أحد عصابات النظام النصيري على ايدي المجاهدين - غمام جبل التركمان ).^{[236][237][238][239]} "The war booty which was seized by the Mujahideen from the axis of Ghamaam in Jabal Turkman" (الغنائم التي اغتنمها المجاهدون من محور غمام في جبل التركمان).^[240]

TIP released a photo of a rocket captioned : "Side of the rocket which bombarded the mujahideen but did not explode due to the favor of Allah - Ghamaam in Jebel Turkman" (جانب من الصاروخ الذي استهدف المجاهدين ولم ينفجر بفضل لله - غمام جبل التركمان).^{[241][242][243][244]} TIP released photos of uniforms, weapons, and ammunition captioned : "The war booty which was captured by the mujahideen from the axis - Ghamaam in Jebel Turkman"(الغنائم التي إغتنمها المجاهدون من محور غمام في جبل التركمان).^{[240][245][246][247][248][249]}

An M2 Browning machine gun made in America was seen along with a TIP fighter in a photo issued by the TIP's Islam Awazi with the caption (رباط المجاهدين التركستانيين ضد الجيش النصيري في سهل الغاب), with the gun possibly given to the TIP by a US supported Syrian rebel faction or taken as war booty from other factions.^[250] A captured Syrian army drone was shown by the TIP.^[251][252] Weapons and munitions seized from the Syrian army were displayed by TIP.^[253]

A TOW missile was used by the Turkistan Islamic Party in Sahl Al-Ghab against the Syrian Army.^{[254][255][256][257][258][259][260][261]} Other pictures of TIP fighters fighting against the Syrian Army in Sahl al-Ghab were released.^{[262][263][264][265][266][267][268][269]}

TIP's Islam Awazi media arm released photos of its members who carried out suicide bombings, Dadullah Turkistani^[270][271] and Abdulbasit (Turguncan) Turkistani.^[272] The TIP released pictures of dead Syrian soldiers they killed.^[273] Islam Awazi released photos of its own dead members killed in Syria, Abbas Turkistani,^[274] Ebu Firat Turkistani,^[275] Zübeyir Turkistani,^[276] Salim Turkistani,^[277] Abdul Muhsin Turkistani,^[278] Ebu Jendel Turkistani,^[279] Abdussabur Turkistani,^[280] and Abu al-'As (أبو العاص).^[281]

TIP's Islam Awazi media arm released photos of its fighters in al-Ghab.^[282][283] "Shot down reconnaissance drone belonging to the Nusayri enemy in Sahl al Ghab" (اسقاط طائرة استطلاع للعدو النصيري في سهل الغاب)^[284] "Turkistani sniper targeting the enemy in Sahl al Ghab" (قناص تركستاني يستهدف العدو في سهل الغاب)^{[285][286][287][288][289][290][291][292][293][294][295][296][297][298][299][300][301][302][303]}

TIP released a video and photos of its "jihad" in "Ghab Plain Operation 3" against Assad's Syrian army.^{[304][305][306][307]} "Ghab Plain Operation 4"^[308][309]

A photo was released by the TIP showing a gas mask being used in Hama by a Turkistan Islamic Party militant.^[310]

A mass execution of 56 captured Syrian soldiers was carried out by the Turkestan Islamic Party along with Jabhat al-Nusra at Abu al-Duhur.^{[311][312][313][314][315][316][317][318]}

Uyghurs operate two Jihadist training camps in Syria.^[319] On 17 August 2013 the website Jihadology posted the March 2013 issue of TIP's Islamic Turkistan Arabic: (تركستان الإسلامية) Uyghur: (ئىسلامى تۈركىستان) magazine in which TIP displayed its fighters and their families, wives, and children in Syria on the side of the rebels.^[320][321]

One of Sayfullakh Shishani's fighters in Jabhat al-Nusra claimed that a united faction called al-Muhajireen was formed out of the unification of the Uyghur Turkistan, Uzbek Abu Salyaha and Al-Bukhari, Ahlu Sunnah wal-Jama'a, and Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar.^[322] The alliance is made out and led by Al-Qaeda affiliated groups.^[323]

Katiba Turkistan joined with Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Junud al-Sham against the Syrian army in the battle for Jisr al-Shughur.^[324]

Arab news agencies reported that the Uyghurs in TIP, the Chechens in Junud Al Sham, Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahrar al Sham are being coordinated by Turkish intelligence to work with the Army of Conquest.^{[325][326][327]}

Syrian Churches have been demolished by Turkistan Islamic Party Uyghur fighters, who exalted in the acts of destruction, and in Homs and Idlib battlefields the Turkistan Islamic Party cooperated with Uzbek brigades and Jabhat al-Nusra, Jabhat al-Nusra and IS (ISIL) compete with each other to recruit Uyghur fighters.^[328] In Jisr al-Shughur a Church's cross had a TIP flag placed on top of it after the end of the battle.^{[329][330][331][332]} The Uzbek group Katibat al-Tawhid wal Jihad (Tavhid va Jihod katibasi) released a video featuring themselves and the Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party attacking and desecrating Christian Churches in Jisr al-Shughur.^{[333][334][335][336][337]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party has participated in besieging the Shiite villages Fua’a and Kafriyeh.^[338][339]

Turkish connections were used by Uyghur fighters to go into Syria and the humanitarian Uyghur Eastern Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association (ETESA) which is located in Turkey sent Uyghurs into Syria, endorsed the killing of the pro-China Imam Juma Tayir, applauded attacks in China, and posted on its website content from the TIP.^[340] Turkish passports were used by Uyghurs who were seeking to contact Mujahidin Indonesia Timor, a pro-ISIS organization in Sulawesi in Indonesia.^[341]

After Thailand deported Uyghurs back to China whom China suspected to have "been on their way to Turkey, Syria or Iraq to join jihad" , John Kirby, a United States State Department spokesman, slammed the move and said Thailand should "allow those remaining ethnic Uighurs to depart voluntarily to a country of their choice".^[342] TIP's "Islamic Turkistan" Twitter account condemned the deportation and called China and Thailand as "polytheist enemies of Allah" (أعداء الله المشركين),^[343] and called Thailand's government a "Buddhist" government.^{[344][345][346][347]}

TIP's Islam Awazi encouraged entire Uyghur families including women and children to emigrate abroad to perform "Jihad".^{[348][349][350][351]} Chinese authorities reported that they discovered that Uyghurs attempting to move to Turkey via Southeast Asia had radical Islamist materials on their phones.^[352]

The "Doğu Türkistan Haber Ajansı" (East Turkestan News Agency) published an article from Al-Qaeda branch Al-Nusrah's "Al-Risalah magazine" (مجلة الرسالة),^[353] second issue (العدد الثاني)^[354][355] translated into Turkish and titled Al Risale : "Türkistan Dağları " 1. Bölüm (The Message : "Turkistan Mountains" Part 1.) on a Uyghur family, including a man, his brother, his sister, his wife, and his two little daughters and two nieces travelling from "East Turkestan" to Syria to join the "Jihad in the path of Allah".^[356] The article claimed that "Turks" lived in "East Turkestan" for "four thousand years" and claimed "East Turkestan" was not part of China.^[357][358] The article attacked China and the Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, accusing both China and the Saudis of running the same kind of government run Islamic institutes and organizations to control Muslims like "scholars for dollars and "palace scholars". The article then praised Allah for allowing Muslims from "Turkestan" to go to the Levant for Jihad.^[359][360] El Risale addressed Muslims in Europe and criticized how they could go to Syria more easier than Muslims from "Turkestan", while the "Turkistani Mujahideen" endured massive obstacles and difficulties in reaching Syria to perform "Jihad in the path of Allah".^[361][362] "Doğu Türkistan Haber Ajansı" carried an interview between El Risale and Abu Firas al-Suri, a leader in Al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front.^[363][364] Al Qaida cleric Abdullah Al-Muhaysini praised the Turkistan Islamic Party fighters in their attacks against the "Nusayris" of Assad's army (Alawites).^[365][366]

Doğu Türkistan Haber Ajansı's Twitter account "Doğu Türkistan" released a photo from Islam Awazi showing a picture from 1884 of the "Manchu-Chinese oppression".^[367]

On a communique dated to Wednesday, 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah 1436 Hijra TIP's Islam Awazi media arm stated that This year is drawing to a close and we thank Allah for what He has blessed us with conquests, victories, and glory. 'We your brothers the Mujahideen of Turkistan are continuing in the liberation of the land of al-Sham and proceeding in our jihad for the sake of Allah to liberate every last inch of the land of al-Sham, with permission from Allah.^{[368][369][370][371][372][373][374][375][376]}

There is also a minority of Syrians serving in the majority Uyghur TIP branch in Syria, known as "Ansari" (ئەنسارى).^{[377][378][379][380][381][382]} Syria Deeply interviewed a Moroccan foreign fighter in Syria who was working with TIP.^[383] A French-Moroccan member of the TIP in Syria was killed and identified by neighbors from the French town of Hérouville-Saint-Clair from a photo released by the TIP.^{[384][385][386]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party is considered "Salafi-Jihadi".^[387][388]

al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb received condolences upon the death of one of its leaders, the chief of the Shariah wing, Rashid al Bulaydi (رشيد البليدي) from the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.^{[389][390][391][392][393]}

The Ambassador of Syria to China, Imad Moustapha, has accused Turkey of facilitating the entry of Uighur jihadists into Syria.^[394]

On December 10, 2014, in Zeytinburnu, an assassin killed the anti-Uzbekistan government Islamist Uzbek Imam Shaykh Abdullah Bukhoroy (Abdullah Bukhari).^{[395][396][397][398][399][400][401]} The Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir released statements on Islamist websites which attacked the Uzbekistan government of Islam Karimov and blamed them for the assassination.^[402][403]

The Turkish run English language BGNNews news agency reported that the Turkish Meydan newspaper discovered that Uyghur fighters joining the Islamist terrorist organization ISIL were being helped by businessman Nurali T., who led an Zeytinburnu district based network in Istanbul, which produced counterfeit Turkish passports numbering up to 100,000 to give to Uyghurs from China and help them go to Turkey form where they would enter Iraq and Syria to join ISIL, Uyghurs from China travel to Malaysia via Cambodia and Thailand and then travel onto Turkey, since a visa is not needed for travel between Turkey and Malaysia, then staying at locations in Istanbul, and then going to Iraq and Syria by traveling to southeastern Turkey, the information was revealed by AG who participates in the network, he noted that even though Turkish authorities are able to detect the fake passports they do not deport the Uyghurs and allow them into Turkey, AG said that: “Turkey has secret dealings with the Uighurs. The authorities first confiscate the passports but then release the individuals.”^[404]

The Uyghur diaspora in the Küçükçekmece, Sefaköy, and Zeytinburnu districts of Istanbul, Turkey, are the source of Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party Jihadists in Syria.^[405][406] The Turkey based Uyghur website "Doğu Türkistan Bülteni", which supports the Turkistan Islamic Party, reported that the Uyghur diaspora in Küçükçekmece and Zeytinburnu were in fear after the assassination of Uzbek Imam Abdullah Bukhari and the Uyghurs were panicking over reports of Chinese loyalist Uyghur agents sent to Istanbul to hunt down separatist Uyghurs as Russia, Iran, and Assad were fighting against the Turkmens and Turkestan Islamic Party Uyghur fighters.^[407][408]

A Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party fighter in Syria, Ibrahim Mansour, openly gave interviews to the Turkish media where he boasted to fighting the "Assad regime".^[409][410]

Media

As part of an effort to reach out to foreign Muslims, on the Ink of Swords (Medad al-Sayouf) Network, an Arabic language magazine titled "Islamic Turkistan" (Turkistan al-Islamia) (تركستان الإسلامية) was issued by ETIM on January 2009 and it described ETIM as "a group of workers for Islam and the mujahideen in the Cause of Allah in order to liberate Turkistan", and said that the aim of ETIM was to "establish an Islamic Caliphate in the light of the Book and the Sunnah", "in the Cause of Allah, promotion of virtue, prevention of vice, and the call to Allah.", to create an Islamic State by means of jihad.^[411]

Fellow Al-Qaeda aligned Islamist organizations with the aim of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate cooperate with TIP (ETIM) whose own goal is an Islamic State, with TIP fighting against the militaries of Syria and Pakistan in addition to China and being assisted by Central Asian, Gulf, European, and North American based outfits and the TIP leader Abdullah Mansour used the words "mujahideen" and "jihadi operation" in a Uighur language video produced by TIP's Islam Awazi (Uyghur: ئىسلام ئاۋازى) Ṣawt al-Islām (Arabic:صوت الإسلام) Media Center when TIP took responsibility for the 29 October 2013 Tianmen Square terrorist attack.^[412]

Islam Awazi released a video showing Burqa clad women being militarily trained by the Turkistan Islamic Party with guns and RPGs.^{[413][414][415][416]}

Camps training children for Jihad are being run by the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.^{[417][418][419][420]} Uyghur child soldiers being instructed in Sharia and training with guns were depicted in a video released by TIP.^[421]

A video of a training camp in Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal areas showing children being trained with weapons was released by the Turkistan Islamic Party's Islam Awazi.^[422]

TIP released a video titled "The Travels of the Believers".^[423]

TIP released a video titled "Message to the Mujāhidīn of the Caucasus".^[424]

TIP released a video titled "Advice to Our Muslim Brothers in Turkey".^[425][426]

The TIP in Syria released a video series called "Lovers of Paradise" (عشاق الجنة).^{[427][428][429][430]}

The TIP in Syria released a video series called "Blessings for the strangers" (طوبى للغرباء) (طوبا للغرباء).^{[373][431][432][433][434][435][436][437][438][439][440]} In the second video of the series, the leader of TIP in Syria Abu Rida al-Turkestani read out a document with an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) letterhead, detailing the history of the founding of the Turkistan Islamic Party by Hasan Mahsum and "East Turkstani immigrants" when they moved to Taliban controlled Afghanistan, gave allegiance to Mullah Omar and founded the organization.^{[434][441][442][443]}

The TIP in Syria released a series of photographs titled "Pictures from the land of the Epic Battles (Malaahim)" (صور من أرض الملاحم).^{[444][445][446][447][448][449][450][451][452][453]} TIP also released photographs under the Turkish title "Nadir Suretler".^{[454][455][456][457][458]}

TIP's Islam Awazi released a "Visual Nasheed" (النشيد المرئي) titled "Wake Up Oh Muslim Ummah" (استيقظي يا أمة الإسلام). The end of the nasheed video featured TIP fighters burning a Syrian flag, the burning of a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and footage of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, with the Uyghur language subtitles of the nasheed referring to the "Kafirlar" (كافرلار) (infidels) when the destruction of the World Trade Center towers was shown on the video.^{[459][460][461]}

TIP's Islam Awazi released a "Visual Nasheed" (النشيد المرئي) titled "Return to Your Religion" (إرجع الى دينك) (دىنىڭە قايت) in the Kazakh language.^{[462][463][464]}

It was announced that TIP's "Voice of Islam" media would be solely released on Twitter, Shamoukh, and Fida'a via the "Global Islamic Media Front".^[465][466]

TIP released a Nasheed "The Sacrificer of Self for God" or “The Sacrificer of Self for Allah” (فدائي) (فىدائىي).^{[467][468][469][470][471]}

TIP released a Nasheed "If I Was Killed".^{[472][473][474]}

TIP released a Nasheed "Told From Me, Oh My Father".^{[475][476][477]}

TIP released a Nasheed "Your Giving to the Lord".^[478][479]

TIP released a Nasheed "You Should Realize, Oh His Mother, Verily Your Son Is In the Way of God".^[480][481]

TIP released a Nasheed "Lions of Turkistān".^[482][483]

In 2013, Islam Awazi released a video showing Burqa clad women being militarily trained by the Turkistan Islamic Party with guns and RPGs.^{[413][414][415][416][484]}

TIP released a Nasheed called izde jennetni (ئىزدە جەننەتنى).^{[485][486][487]}

The video "Path of Jihad" (طريق الجهاد) (جىھاد يولى) was released by the Syrian branch of the Turkistan Islamic Party. in Syria^[488][489]

"Turkistani" is used as an alternate ethonym for "Uyghur" by some Uyghurs.^[22][490]

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released a video titled "A Message to the Turkestanis" (رسالة الى التركستانيين) (تۈركىستانلىق قېرىنداشلارغا رىسالە) featuring Abdullah Al-Muhaysini, an Al-Qaeda cleric of Saudi origin.^[491][492] Muhaysini urged the "Turkistani Musims" to raise their children to love death like "infidels" love life.^[493]

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released a video titled "Importance of Martyrdom Operations in Our Current Time" (أهمية العمليات الإستشهادية في زمننا الحاضر) (زامانىمىزدىكى پىدائىيلىق ئەمەلىيىتىنىڭ ئەھمىيىتى) by Abdullah al-Muhaysini.^{[494][495][496][497][498][499][500]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released a "Visual Nasheed" (النشيد المرئي) titled "The Martyrs" (الشهداء) (شەھىدلەر) showing dead Turkistan Islamic Party militants who were killed in Syria along with descriptions of Jannah (جنة) (paradise) including Hoor (الحور) (virgins), saying that there would be 72 of them waiting for the dead "martyrs".^{[501][502][503][504][505][506][507][508][509][510][511][512][513][514][515][516][517][518][519]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released a video titled "Virtues of the Turkestani Mujahideen in Shaam" (فضائل المجاهدين التركستاني في الشام) (شامدىكى تۈركىستانلىق مۇجاھىدلارنىڭ پەزىلەتلىرى) (شامدىكى تۈركىستانلىق مۇجاھىدلارنىڭ پەزىلىتى) by Abdullah al-Muhaysini in which he held up the example of one fighter in Syria for whom it took two years to travel there from "Turkistan".^{[520][521][522][523][524][525][526][527][528]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released a video titled “And There Is No Victory Except From Allah" (وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلاَّ مِنْ عِندِ اللّه ِ(1)) (ياردەم پەقەت ئاللاھ تەرىپىدىنلا كېلىدۇ 1- قىسىم).^{[529][530][531][532][533][534][535][536][537][538][539][540][541][542][543][544]} TIP in Syria released "And Victory Is Not Except from God #2".^{[545][546][547][548][549]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released a visual nasheed (النشيد المرئي) called "Seeking Martyrdom (إبتغاء الشهادة) (شاھادەت ئىزدەپ).^{[550][551][552][553][554][555][556][557][558][559][560][561][562][563]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released "A Call From the Front Lines of Jihad #1" (نداء من الثغور الجهاد - 1) (جىھاد ئالدىنقى سەپلىرىدىن سادا).^{[564][565][566][567][568][569][570]} TIP released "A Call From the Front Lines of Jihad #2" (نداء من الثغور الجهاد - 2).^{[571][572][573][574][575][576]} TIP released "A Call From the Front Lines of Jihad #3" (نداء من الثغور الجهاد - 3) (جىھاد ئالدىنقى سەپلىرىدىن سادا 3).^{[577][578][579][580][581][582][583][584]} TIP released “A Call From the Frontlines of Jihad 4” (نداء من الثغور الجهاد 4) (جىھاد ئالدىنقى سەپلىرىدىن سادا 4).^{[585][586][587][588][589][590]} TIP released “A Call From the Front Lines of Jihad #5” (نداء من ثغور الجهاد - ) (جىھاد ئالدىنقى سەپلىرىدىن سادا (5)).^{[591][592][593][594][595][596]} TIP released “A Call From the Front Lines of Jihad #6”.^{[597][598][599]} TIP released “A Call From the Front Lines of Jihad #7”.^{[600][601][602]}

The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria released pictures of TIP fighters in Jab al Ahmar on Jabal al Akrad in Lattakia and Sahl al Ghab.^{[603][604][605][606][607][608][609]}

Iranian media reported that in Gaziantep Turkish intelligence trained Turkistan Islamic Party fighters.^{[610][611][612][613][614][615][616][617]}

Child soldiers

Camps training children for Jihad are being run by the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.^{[618][619][620]} Photos of the child military training camps in Syria were released by the Turkistan Islamic Party, who labelled the children as "little mujahideen" (Küçük Mücahitler).^{[621][622][623][624]} Uyghur child soldiers being instructed in Sharia and training with guns were depicted in a video released by TIP.^{[421][625][626][627][628][629]}

Photos of a training camp for Uyghur children run by the Turkistan Islamic Party were released by Islam Awazi.^{[630][631][632][633]} Photos released by Turkistan Islamic Party's Islam Awazi media which showed Uyghur militants along with Uyghur children in Syria, including one child holding an AK-47, the Uyghurs cooperated with Jabhat Al-Nusra and had pledged alleigance (bay'ah) to Taliban leader Mullah Omar.^[634] Another photo released by Islam Awazi showed Uyghur children training with AK-47's and with shahada headbands at a camp in the Afpak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) region.^[635] Pictures were released by Islam Awazi of Afghanistan-based Turkistan Islamic Party training children for Jihad.^{[636][637][638]} A video of a training camp in Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal areas showing children being trained with weapons was released by the Turkistan Islamic Party's Islam Awazi.^{[639][640][641][642][643][644][645]} A video of a TIP child in Afghanistan reading a Quran was released.^[646]

Pictures of Uyghur girls wearing the hijab and posing with guns were posted by the Turkistan Islamic Party's Islam Awazi.^{[647][648][649][650][651]}

Photos released by TIP's Islam Awazi showed Uyghur children in Idlib, Syria, with AK-47s, reading Qurans, and Burqa clad women praying.^[652] The child soldiers were also shown engaging in religious studies.^[653]

The village of Az-Zanbaqi (الزنبقي) in Jisr al-Shughur's countryside has become a base for a massive amount of Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party militants and their families in Syria, estimated at around 3,500, military camps in the area are training hundreds of children from these families; Hezbollah media, Iranian media and Syrian government media accused Turkish intelligence of being involved in transporting these Uyghurs via Turkey to Syria, with the aim of using them first in Syria to help Jabhat Al-Nusra and gain combat experience fighting against the Syrian Army before sending them back to Xinjiang to fight against China if they manage to survive.^{[185][654][655][656][657][658][659][660][661][662][663][664][665][666][667][668][669][670][671][672][673]}

The Syrian political analyst and Arab nationalist Taleb Ibrahim accused Turkey of trying to demographically alter areas of Syria by sending in Turkic peoples like Uyghurs, Turkmens, and others to take over whole villages after ethnically cleansing the Arab locals, accusing Turkey of neo-Ottoman and Turkish colonialist policies towards Syria and trying to take parts of Syria from Arabs.^[674][675]

The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar wrote an article accusing Turkey of supporting the Turkistan Islamic Party against Syria, with a Turkish-based website recruiting "Uyghur Mujahideen" to come to Turkey and help them enter Syria to fight the Syrian government.^[676][677]

Küresel Analiz compiled a photo gallery of Turkistan Islamic Party members in Syria.^[678][679]

Guantanamo Bay detainees

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Allegations against the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, from Nag Mohammed, captive 102's Tribunal

The United States captured 22 Uyghur militants from combat zones in Afghanistan in 2006 on information that they were linked to Al-Qaeda.^[680] They were imprisoned without trial for five to seven years, where they testified that they were trained by ETIM leader Abdul Haq, at an ETIM training camp. After being reclassified as No Longer Enemy Combatant,^[681] a panel of judges ordered them released into the United States. Despite the alarm of politicians that the release of terrorist camp-trained Uyghurs into the United States was unsafe and illegal, they could not be released back to China because of its human rights record.^[682] Some of the Uyghurs have been transferred to Palau, and some to Bermuda despite objections by the United Kingdom, but the United States is having difficulties finding governments who will accept the rest.^[683]

Attacks

In 2007, ETIM militants in cars shot Chinese nationals in Pakistani Balochistan and sent a videotape of the attack to Beijing, in retaliation for an execution of an ETIM official earlier that July.^[684] ETIM also took credit for a spate of attacks before the 2008 Summer Olympics, including a series of bus bombings in Kunming, an attempted plane hijacking in Urumqi,^[681] and an attack on paramilitary troops in Kashgar that killed 17 officers.^[685] On 29 June 2010, a court in Dubai convicted two members of an ETIM cell of plotting to bomb a government-owned shopping mall that sold Chinese goods. This was the ETIM plot outside of China or Central Asia. The key plotter was recruited during Hajj and was flown to Waziristan to train.^[686] In July 2010, officials in Norway interrupted a terrorist bomb plot, another instance of ETIM branching out of its original regions and cooperating with international groups. New York Times correspondent Edward Wong says that ETIM "give[s] them a raison d'être at a time when the Chinese government has... defused any chance of a widespread insurgency... in Xinjiang."^[685]

In October 2013, a suicide attack in Tiananmen Square caused 5 deaths and 38 injuries. Chinese police described it as the first terrorist attack in Beijing's recent history. Turkistan Islamic Party later claimed responsibility for the attack.^[687][688]

Responsibility for the April 2014 Ürümqi attack was claimed by the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[689][690]

Analysis

Violent attacks were carried out by Turkey, Afghanistan, and Central Asian based groups.^[691]

In 2010 responsibility for attacks in China was claimed by the Turkistan Islamic Party.^{[692][693][694]}

Several attacks in 2011 in Xinjiang were claimed by the Turkistan Islamic Party.^[695]

In Beijing's Xidan district, a bus bomb killed two people on March 7, 1997 and Uyghur separatists boasted that they were behind the attack.^[696] The participation of Uyghurs in the bus bombing was dismissed by the Chinese government even while the Turkey-based "Organisation for East Turkistan Freedom" boasted to committing the attack.^[697]

Even while the Uyghur jihadist group Turkistan Islamic Party distributes propaganda videos and its own Arabic Islamic Turkistan magazine, which is documented by Jihadology.net and the Jamestown Foundation, the Chinese government seems to try to refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Turkistan Islamic Party, with China even trying to claim that there was no terrorist connection to the 2008 bus bombings in China even while Turkistan Islamic Party boasted on video to committing the attacks.^[38]

Stratfor has noted repeated unexplained attacks on Chinese buses in 2008 have followed a history of ETIM targeting Chinese infrastructure, and noted the group's splintering and subsequent reorganization following the death of Mahsum.^[698]

Intelligence analysts J. Todd Reed and Diana Raschke acknowledge that reporting in China presents obstacles not found in countries where information is not so tightly controlled. However, they found that ETIM's existence and activities could be confirmed independently of Chinese government sources, using information gleaned from ETIM's now-defunct website, reports from human rights groups and academics, and testimony from the Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Reed & Raschke also question the information put out by Uyghur expatriates that deny ETIM's existence or impact, as the Uyghurs who leave Xinjiang are those who object most to government policy, are unable to provide first-hand analysis, and have an incentive to exaggerate repression and downplay militancy. They say that ETIM was "obscure but not unknown" before the September 11 attacks, citing "Western, Russian, and Chinese media sources" that have "documented the ETIM's existence for nearly 20 years".^[699]

Media coverage

Western media

Nick Holdstock, in a New York Times interview claimed that no organization is taking responsibility for attacks in Xinjiang, and that there is not enough proof to blame any organization for the attacks, that most "terrorism" there is "unsubstantiated", and that posting internet videos online is the only thing done by the "vague and shadowy" ETIM.^[700]

Uyghur media

The Turkistan Islamic Party's magazine "Turkistān al-Islāmīyyah" Issue #14 endorsed attacks and killings against Chinese workers and referred to "Martyrdom Operations" against a police station and a "Martyr's Brigade".^[701]

TIP's "Islamic Turkistan" magazine Issue #14 praised the Taliban and "mujahideen" for what it called the "humiliating" of America in Afghanistan and boasted that American suffered over 17 billion dollars of damage of "physical and military losses" and "ten thousand soldiers" dead at the hands of Arab and non-Arab "mujahideen".^{[702][703][704][705]}

The TIP has some members of other ethnicities besides the Uighur, a TIP suicide bomber in Afghanistan who attacked American troops was Nuruddin, a Turkish militant and he advocated that Turks and Uighurs mount "Islamic flags at the White House and Beijing's Tiananmen Square" while a TIP Kazakh member named Uspan Batir made an appearance in a video and said There is a line artificially drawn by the infidel in between us--saying you are from Kazakhstan, Turkistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan--there is a line drawn artificially by the infidel, my brothers . . . The religion never came only to Kazakhs, it did not come only to Uighurs, and it did not come only to Arabs . . . Do not separate. Allah said, you do not separate to say that ‘you are Kazakhstan, you are Turkistan and you are Uzbekistan.’^[39]

The Turkish TIP suicide bomber Nuruddin called for expulsion of "Crusader" and "Buddhist" "infidels", and called "Andalusia, East Turkistan, Chechyna, South Africa" as "lands of Islam".^{[706][707][708]} Nuruddin said that Allah "blesses" the "Jihad" in Somalia, Iraq, Chechnya, Yemen and other places and that the "Muslim Mujahideen" were fighting NATO and America.^[709][710] Ebu Bekir Et Turki committed the suicide attack along with Nuruddin.^[711]

Islam Awazi released a video called "We Are Coming O Buddhists" (نحن قادمون أيّها البوذيون) of a TIP affiliated Rohingya cleric named Sheikh Abu Dhar ‘Azzam (أبو ذر عزام) (Abu Dhar al-Burmi) who also called for the killing of Buddhists in addition to Chinese, saying in Arabic that "Killing you... Slaughtering you... And cutting off your heads is all good", "Kill you, spill your blood, cut off your head is a good thing", the unedited message said "We are Muslims, and you are our enemies oh Buddhists and Chinese: You will not see us and killing you, and spilling your blood, and cutting your heads of: all of it is good, insha Allah" (نحن مسلمون، ولو كنتم أعداءنا أيُّها البوذيون والصينيون: لن تروا منا إلا خيرًا، وقتلكم وإسالة دمائكم، وقطع رؤوسكم: كله خير إن شاء الله.ـ) on 24 February 2014, he also said "we are a nation that loves death while you are a nation that loves wine and women, and we are coming insha Allah, we want to kill Buddhists to the east of this land and to the west of it". (إننا قوم نحب الموت كما تحبون الخمر والنساء، وإننا قادمون إن شاء الله، نحن نريد أن نقتل البوذيين في شرق الأرض وغربها.ـ), he also said "those Chinese Buddhists, their small eyes, flat noses. Judgment day will not come, until we attacked them. Judgment day will not come, until we slaughter them. Judgment day will not come, until our war with them and attacking them." (وأوصيكم بأن هؤلاء الصينيين البوذيين صغار الأعين فطس الأنوف: لا تقوم الساعة حتى نقاتلهم، لا تقوم الساعة حتى نذبحهم، لا تقوم الساعة حتى نتلاحم معهم، ونقاتل ضدهم.ـ)^[712][713]

In the Turkistan Islamic Party's Turkestan Al-Islamiyya magazine, Issue 13, Abu Dhar 'Azzam (Abu Dhar Al-Burmi) congratulated the Tsarnaev brothers on their terrorist attack in the Boston Marathon bombing, saying In the very house of unbelief, two Chechen brothers destroyed the infidels' fortresses on April 16, 2013. During the [ensuing] search [by the authorities for the perpetrators], the elder brother died as a martyr in the field of glory and honor, Allah willing. The younger brother, Dzokhar, remained, and told his dear nation: 'We did this operation as revenge for what America does in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan.' He didn't mention his homeland Chechnya, since this jihad is a jihad of [an entire] nation, not [a campaign] for the liberation of a single land.... The Muslims' lands are one and their honor is one.^{[714][715][716]}

Abu Dhar Azzam called upon Muslims to attack Germany, China, and Burma, saying : Rise O servants of Allah to help your brothers and sisters!, Rise to save your sons and daughters! Do your best in jihad, O guardians of creed and [monotheism], against the enemies of Allah the idolatrous Buddhists, and target the most important installations of Burma, China and Germany, and their interests and the interests of the United Nations, which supports these massacres and this genocide in Arakan.^[717] Abu Dhar ‘Azzam featured in a video released by TIP titled "We Have To Empower Islam In the Depths Of Our Hearts".^{[718][719][719][720]}

Designation as a terrorist group

Countries and organizations below have officially listed the Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist group.

Country	Date	References
Russia	2006	[721]

After the 9/11 attacks, ETIM was placed on the United States' Terrorist Exclusion List, which includes organizations conducting terrorist activities. It has since been removed from that list.^[19]

The group was also classified as 'terrorist' by the following:

• United Nations^[722]
• European Union
• Government of China ^[723][724]
• Government of Kazakhstan
• Government of Russia^[676]
• Government of Kyrgyzstan^[684] (The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, Organization for Freeing Eastern Turkistan, and the Islamic Party of Turkistan were outlawed by Kyrgyzstan's Lenin District Court and its Supreme Court in November 2003.^[725][726])
• Government of Afghanistan^[684]
• Government of the United Arab Emirates (named as both Turkistan Islamic Party and East Turkestan Islamic Movement)^{[727][728][729]}
• Pakistan outlawed the Islamic Jihad Union, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement in 2013.^[730]

See also

• Al Qaeda
• Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
• Islamic terrorism
• Jihad, Jihadism
• Terrorism in China
• East Turkestan independence movement
• State-sponsored terrorism#Turkey
• Xinjiang raid

Notes

• ^a The official name of the organization since 1999 is the "Turkistan Islamic Movement", but in English it is known by its old name and acronym, ETIM.^[34][51] Other aliases adopted over the years are "East Turkistan Islamic Party", "Allah Party", and "East Turkistan National Revolution Association".^[731]

References

Further reading

• Reed, J. Todd; Raschke, Diana (2010). The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-313-36540-9

External links

• https://twitter.com/i_awazi
• https://twitter.com/Dogu_Turkistan_
• https://twitter.com/turkstanislamia
• https://twitter.com/sowt_alislam
• https://siddiqlarbiz.blogspot.com.tr/
• http://www.trackingterrorism.org/group/turkistan-islamic-party-tip
• http://www.cfr.org/china/east-turkestan-islamic-movement-etim/p9179
• http://www.longwarjournal.org/tags/turkistan-islamic-party
• https://news.siteintelgroup.com/tag/31.html
• http://jihadology.net/category/other-groups/turkestan-islamic-party/

al-Qaeda and direct affiliates al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Al-Shabaab Egyptian Islamic Jihad Turkistan Islamic Party Taliban Caucasus Emirate Fatah al-Islam Jabhat al-Nusra Lashkar-e-Taiba Jaish-e-Mohammed Jemaah Islamiyah Islamic Jihad Union Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent