World Uyghur Congress calls for Peaceful Resolution in East Turkestan: Erkin Alptekin elected President of the World Uyghur Conference

Immediate Release
April 19, 2004
Munich, Germany

East Turkestan National Congress and World Uyghur Youth Congress, have met in Munich, Germany from April 16-18, and after three days of deliberations, have decided to merge into a united organization known as the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) to represent the highest interest of Uyghur People in East Turkestan. WUC has accomplished its agenda through a democratic process and adopted bylaws for the newly established organization.

During the session, delegates from 13 different countries, who attended the General Assembly, accepted a strategic plan to achieve the goal of WUC. Delegates of WUC have worked out both short term and long term strategies for the freedom of East Turkestan. Mr. Erkin Alptekin, recognized leader of the Uyghur Freedom Movement, was democratically elected as the first president of the WUC. Mr. Muhammad Tohti, president of Uyghur Canadian Association, was elected as the vice-president of WUC. Mr. Alim Seytoff, president of Uyghur American Association, was elected as the chairman for the Executive Committee of WUC.

The main objective of WUC is to promote the right of the Uyghur people to use peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic means to determine the political future of East Turkestan.
WUC will endeavor to set out a course for the peaceful settlement of the East Turkestan Question by promoting democracy, human rights and religious freedom for the Uyghur people. To achieve such a goal, WUC is willing to closely cooperate with concerned foreign governments such as the U.S., Britain, Germany, Russia, and international bodies such as the UN, European Union as well as human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch etc. Furthermore, WUC will effectively raise the awareness of the international community on the gross violation of human rights and religious freedom of the people in East Turkestan under authoritarian Chinese rule, especially after September 11, 2001.

Since the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., the Chinese government has hijacked the global war on international terrorism and has stepped up its “Strike Hard” campaigns aimed at terrorizing the entire Uyghur population. The Chinese government also branded almost all the Uyghur organizations in the world as “terrorist” and attempted to dismantle them with the help of the international community. China also attempted to prevent the opening of this congress in Germany claiming that the Uyghur freedom movement “poses a potential threat to the world peace.” However, China’s fictitious war on terror has no footing in the global war on international terrorism.

The World Uyghur Congress declares a nonviolent and peaceful opposition movement against Chinese occupation of East Turkestan and an unconditional adherence to the international accepted human rights standard as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Political, Economical, Social and Cultural Rights, adherence to the principals of democratic pluralism and rejection of totalitarianism, religious intolerance, and terrorism as an instrument of policy.

The World Uyghur Congress calls on the international community to put more pressure on the Chinese government to respect the fundamental human rights of Uyghur people in East Turkestan to determine their own political future. World Uyghur Congress calls on the Chinese government to seek a peaceful resolution to resolve the existing problems in East Turkestan through negotiations with legitimate representatives of Uyghur people.