top of page

Conference on the preservation of Uyghur culture held at George Washington University

Uyghur Kara

Dec 10, 2022

Conference on the preservation of Uyghur culture held at George Washington University

A conference on the preservation of Uyghur culture was held on Friday, December 9, 2022, at the George Washington University Faculty of International Relations in Washington, the capital of the USA.


The conference organized by the Uyghur Academy was supported by George Washington University, Indiana University, World Uyghur Congress, Uyghur Human Rights Foundation, Uyghur Action Organization, Uyghur American Federation, Uyghur Project Fund, Silk Road Peace Project and Japan Uyghur Association.


Before the conference started, a moment of silence was held for the people of East Turkestan, who were martyred in the East Turkestan national struggle and who were martyred in the fire in Urumqi.



Making the opening speech, Uyghur Academy President Rishat Abbas said that genocide and crimes against humanity continue in China and that it is an urgent matter to stop them.

Later, American researchers who conducted research on Uyghurs, Professor Sean Roberts from George Washington University, Professor Rebecca Clothy from Jurexel University and Professor Gardner Bovingdon from Indiana University emphasized the importance of this conference and expressed their good wishes.


In his congratulatory speech at the conference, President and CEO of the Americ National Endowment for Democracy Damon Wilson said that in these days of genocide, including cultural destruction in East Turkestan, it is necessary to protect this culture and defend democracy against authoritarian regimes.


At the Conference moderated by Alim Seytof, head of the Free Asia Uyghur section, experts and activists expressed their views on the current situation in the Uyghur region.

In his speech at the conference, Professor Gardner Bowingdon from Indiana University briefly described the history of Chinese Communist domination over the Uyghur region. According to him, the government of Mao Zedong did not implement a real policy of autonomy, although it granted autonomy as a model of the ethnic policy of the Soviet Union; the Chinese government maintained its false autonomy and the policy of national assimilation moved towards genocide.


Bowingdon also said, “In the Autonomy Law, all ethnic groups have the right to protect and develop their own language and culture, but today the Uyghurs are not given this opportunity. Today we are discussing the preservation and development of the Uyghur language and culture. No one in the Uyghur region can do this, but we can.

Adrian Zeniz, a researcher at the Foundation for the Remembrance of the Victims of Communism shared his research results and views and said: “According to credible Chinese documents, including Xinjiang police documents, from the beginning of 2017 to the end of 2021, the Chinese government has entered the phase of relentlessly pacifying the Uyghurs, consolidating the consequences of its genocidal policy and normalizing crime.” Adrian Zeniz also explained with examples that when examining the Uyghur issue, one should be serious and respect the facts.



Speaking at this conference, World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa explained the importance of holding this conference on the Genocide Remembrance Day on December 9, and said that the influence of dictator countries on the world is getting stronger; He stated that democratic countries, politicians, human rights activists and intellectuals need to cooperate in order to protect democracy and human rights.


Sophie Richardson from International Human Rights Watch and Rushan Abbas, head of the Uyghur Movement, also spoke at the meeting. Rushan Abbas stressed that the rights of women and children, who have become the biggest victims of the crime of Chinese genocide, should be protected; He accused the United Nations not playing an adequate role and many countries and big companies of the world of being complicit in the massacre.


bottom of page