Dieciocho activistas uigures y un policía chino murieron el viernes en un enfrentamiento en la remota meseta del Pamir, en el extremo occidental del país, informaron ayer fuentes policiales chinas.
Otro agente resultó herido y otras 17 personas fueron detenidas, en lo que ha sido descrito como un operativo antiterrorista para desmantelar un campo de entrenamiento del Movimiento Islámico del Turkestán Oriental, organización secesionista uigur con un acreditado pasado de atentados y acciones armadas. Algunos de los implicados lograron escapar y su búsqueda continuaba ayer.
El Pamir es una meseta montañosa de alturas, aspecto y clima semejantes a los de Tíbet. El grueso de su territorio se encuentra en la región autónoma de Gorno-Badajshán, en Tayikistán, con algunas zonas en Kirguistán, Afganistán y China, que comparten una montañosa y desolada frontera, muy difícil de controlar y con gran tradición de contrabando. Xinjiang es la región más occidental de China, en la que viven 8,5 millones de uigures, el grupo étnico más diferente a los mayoritarios chinos han. Es el único pueblo túrquico que utiliza el alfabeto árabe y ha demostrado un fuerte apego a su tradición islámica, así como una gran resistencia a la asimilación china. Xinjiang es el escenario de las tensiones nacionales más agudas de China, aunque en los últimos años el activismo político haya decaído manifiestamente.
El Movimiento Islámico del Turkestán Oriental es una organización armada y minoritaria vinculada a la red integrista islámica internacional, que organizó refugios en el Afganistán de la administración talibán de los años noventa. Su líder, Hasan Majsum, fue liquidado por el ejército pakistaní en el 2003.
El primer levantamiento islamista conocido del Xinjiang moderno se registró en abril de 1990, en el distrito de Akto, a unos 30 kilómetros al sur de la ciudad de Kashgar. Un activista llamado Zajidyn Yusuf proclamó la guerra santa, hasta que su grupo fue exterminado por el ejército chino. En un segundo levantamiento, en 1997, se registraron disturbios masivos, con decenas de muertos y centenares de detenidos. En el 2003 y el 2004, cuatro activistas uigures fueron ejecutados.
Según Amnistía Internacional, las campañas del Gobierno chino emprendidas a partir de 1996 generalizaron la tortura y la violación de derechos básicos. Sólo entre abril de 1997 y 1999 se registraron, como mínimo, 199 ejecuciones vinculadas a delitos políticos en Xinjiang.
En el 2002, Estados Unidos incluyó el movimiento islamista en su lista de organizaciones terroristas. Al mismo tiempo, el gobierno de Washington apoya solapadamente al movimiento secesionista uigur, que cuenta también con organizaciones autonomistas cuyo programa rechaza la violencia. muchos obispos, clérigos y periodistas católicos se ensañaron con quienes osaron descubrir la incómoda verdad", escribía en su editorial Rzeczpospolita.El diario advierte que el caso Wielgus no hace sino abrir una etapa de purgas de la jerarquía y del clero que la Iglesia pretendió evitar pero que no podrá eludir.
Más despiadado aún fue con el primado Glemp el director de Dziennik:"¿Por qué el primado, hombre de muchos méritos, se ha volcado en rocambolesca defensa de Wielgus? En contra de la verdad y en contra del Papa. Pues esta apología del arzobispo agente se entiende como el anuncio de que la Iglesia católica jamás aceptará la verificación del pasado personal del clero. El primado teme que los archivos comunistas manchen el prestigio de la Iglesia. Quizá así será. Pero peor hubiera sido resistir la verdad."
La búsqueda de ex confidentes se cobró ayer una segunda víctima en el clero cuando dimitió de su cargo Janusz Bielanski, rector de la catedral de Wawel, donde están sepultados los antiguos reyes polacos. Bielanski dimitió al saber que figura como ex colaborador en el libro Sacerdotes ante la seguridad comunista,del sacerdote Tadeusz Isakowicz, a punto de salir a la venta.
Pero la gran purga de agentes desencadenada por el Gobierno, que ya se ha convertido en una guerra de guerrillas, parece escapar a todo control. El caso de Wielgus fue descubierto y denunciado fuera del ámbito eclesiástico por cazadores de agentes y acabó dividiendo a la Iglesia. Algunos obispos eran contrarios a nombrar a Wielgus, mientras que la mayoría y Radio María salieron en su cerrada defensa. Ahora, ante la división y la crisis desencadenadas por el propio Gobierno, la derecha de Ley y Justicia difícilmente puede presumir de aliada de la jerarquía y amiga de Radio María.
Es sintomático que la búsqueda de agentes dentro de la Iglesia no se inicie hasta dos años después de la muerte de Juan Pablo II, como si la derecha no se hubiera atrevido mientras vivía el Papa polaco.
Información Suplementaria (Wikipedia):
Uyghur people
The Uyghur (also spelled Uighur; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; Simplified Chinese: 维吾尔; Traditional Chinese: 維吾爾; pinyin: Wéiwú'ěr) are an ethnic group of Central Asia. They are one of China's 56 officially recognized nationalities, consisting of 8.68 million people according to the 2004 Chinese census. According to some overseas Uyghur and Chinese scholars Uyghur population is at least 15 million. Throughout the history of Central Asia, they left a lasting imprint on both the culture and tradition. Today in China, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial term Eastern Turkestan). There are also existing Uyghur communities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Turkey and a smaller one in Taoyuan County of Hunan province in South-central China. Uyghur neighborhoods can also be found in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Uyghur was originally written with the Orkhon alphabet, a runiform script derived from or inspired by the Sogdian script, which was ultimately derived from the Aramaic script.
Historically the term "Uyghur" (meaning "united" or "allied") was applied to a group of Turkic-speaking tribes that lived in the Altai Mountains. Along with the Göktürks (Kokturks) the Uyghurs were one of the largest and most enduring Turkic peoples living in Central Asia. The question of Uyghur identity and origins is a highly contentious issue because the ancestors of the Uyghur came from many different ethnic groups on the silkroad and because of the fluid identity of nomadic states. Over the course of history the term 'Uyghur' increased in scope from a tribal group, to a political state, and finally to a distinct ethnicity.
The earliest use of the term 'Uyghur' (Weihu) was during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 CE),in China. At that time the Uyghur were part of the Gaoche later called Tura (Tiele) people, a group of Turkic tribes, which also included groups such as Xueyantuo(Syr-Tardush), Basmil (Baximi), Oguz (Wuhu), and Yakut (Guligan) from the Lake Baikal Region. The forebear of the Tura belonged to those of Hun (Xiongnu) descendants. The origin of Gaoche can be traced back to the Chidi and Dingling Peoples according to the Han Dynasty circa 200 BCE .This pedigree is also confirmed in the Book of Sui volume 84 (c. 600 CE).
The first use of 'Uyghur' as a political nationality occurred during the interim between the first and second Göktürk Khanates (630-684 CE). For a more detailed look at the genesis of the Uyghur nation see uyghur timeline. After the collapse of the Uyghur Empire in 840 CE the Uyghur refugees resettled in the Tarim Basin intermarrying with the local people. It is only after this time that 'Uyghur' can be properly used as a true ethnic designation.
Modern usage of the Uyghur ethnonym is used to give an ethnic definition to a traditional Central Asian distinction between nomads and settled farmers. It refers to the descendants of settled Turkic urban oasis-dwelling and agricultural populations of Xinjiang as opposed to those Turkic groups that remained nomadic. Uyghurs live mainly in Xinjiang, China, where they are the largest ethnic group, together with Han Chinese, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Russians. "Xinjiang" is the Han Chinese name for the (Autonomous) Region meaning "New Frontier." Uyghurs often refer to the region as East Turkestan.
Uyghur history can be divided into four distinct phases. Pre-Imperial (300 BCE - 630 CE), Imperial (630-840 CE), Idiqut (840-1225 CE), and Mongol (1225-1600 CE) with perhaps a fifth post-mongol or modern phase running from the death of the silkroad in 1600 CE until the present. Their history is story of an obscure nomadic tribe from the Altai Mountains rising to challenge the Chinese Empire and ultimately becoming the diplomaic arm of the Mongol invasion.
The ancestors of the Uyghur were the nomadic Gaoche People and the Tocharian peoples of the Tarim Basin. Gaoche meaning 'High Cart' was a reference to the distinct high-wheeled, ox-drawn carts used to move yurts. The Gaoche were Altaic pastoralists who lived in the valleys south of Lake Baikal and around the Yenisei River. They practiced some minor agriculture and were highly developed metalsmiths due to the abundance of easily available iron ore in the Yenisei. They became vassals of the Huns and manufactured their arms. After the Huns they were passed as vassals to the Rouran and Hepthalite States. In 450 CE the Gaoche planned a revolt against the Rouran that was defeated by the Türk (another Rouran vassal tribe). This incident marked the beginning of the historic Türk-Tiele animosity that plauged the Göktürk Khanate. When the Göktürk defeated the Rouran/Hepthalite state, they became the new masters of the Tura (Tiele) (the name "Gaoche" was replaced by "Tiele" in historic records around this time). It was also at this time that the Uyghur tribe was first mentioned in Chinese records as a small tribe of 10,000 yurts in the South Baikal region.
The Uyghur participated in a coalition of Tura (Tiele) under the leadership of the Syr-Tardush tribe which allied with the Chinese Sui Empire in 603 CE to defeat Tardu Khan and win their independence. This alliance existed with varying degrees of autonomy from 603 CE until 630 CE when the Göktürk Khanate was decisively defeated by the Emperor Tang Taizong. During this time the Uyghur occupied second position after the Syr-Tardush in the alliance. In the interum between the first and second Göktürk Khanates (630 -683 CE) the Uyghur toppled the Syr-Tardush and declared their independence. Then a second Göktürk Khanate was established during the reign of Empress Wu. The Uyghur were again put under the Turks. After a series of revolts coordinated with their Chinese allies, the Uyghur emerged as the leaders of a new coalition force called the "Toquz Oghuz". In 744 CE the Uyghur, together with other subject tribes (the Basmil and Kharlukh), defeated the Göktürk Khanate and founded the Uyghur Empire at Mount Ötüken.
Propery called the On Uyghur , Toquz-Oghuz Orkhon Khanate, the Uyghur Empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to Manchuria and lasted from 745 to 840. It was administered from the imperial capital Ordu Baliq. The first city built in Mongolia. During the imperial phase 'Uyghur' came to mean any citizen of the Uyghur Empire, and not just a member of the Uyghur tribe. After the Battle of Talas,Although they could have conquered the Tang Empire, they choose instead to use an exploitative trade policy to drain off the wealth of China without actually destroying it. In return they policed the borders and quelled internal rebellions. Large numbers of Sogdian refugees came to Ordu Baliq to escape the Islamic Jihad in their homeland. It was from them the Uyghur were converted from Buddhism to Manicheianism. The Uyghurs thus inherited the legacy of Sogdian Culture. In 840 CE, following a famine and a civil war, the Uyhgur Empire was overrun by the Kirghiz, another Turkic people. The result was that the majority of tribal groups formerly under the umbrella of the Uyghurs migrated to what is now north western China, especially modern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region.
The Uyghur refugees joined by other Turkic tribal groups living in Zungaria and the Tarim Basin, established three states in the Tarim Basin merging with the local populations of Tocharians (or Tokharians, whose language was Indo-European). It is probable that, genetically and culturally, modern Uyghurs descend from the nomadic Turkic tribes, and the Indo-European-speaking groups who preceded them in the Tarim Basin oasis-cities as well as Mongols from Mongolia . Today one can still see Uyghurs with light-coloured skin and hair. Modern studies have found that modern Uyghur populations represent an admixture of eastern and western Eurasian mtDNA and Y chromosome lineages. It is at this time 'Uyghur' can be used as an ethnic designation.
Yugor The eastern most of the three states was in the Gansu province in China, around the late 9th century, where they converted from Manicheism to Lamaism (Tibetan and Mongol Buddhism). Unlike other Turkic peoples further west they did not later convert to Islam. Thus they are unusual among Turkic peoples. Their descendants live there to this day, they are now known as Yugurs and are distinct from modern Uyghurs. In 1092CE the Yugors were absorbed into the Tangut kingdom.
Karakhoja The central state was the Karakhoja kingdom also called the Idiqut was based around the cites of Turfan and Qumul. Also a Buddhist state with a state sposored manicheanism it can be considered the epicenter of Uyghur culture. The Idiqut lasted until 1209 when they submitted to the Mongols under Genghis Khan.
Kara-Khanids or The Karahans(Great Khans Dynasty) . The Karahans ruled between 990-1212 in Turkistan and Maveraünnehir. They converted to Islam before the 11th century and built a federation with Muslim institutions. Together with the Samanids of Samarkand they considered themselves the defenders of Islam against the Buddhist Uyghur Idiqut and the Buddhist Scythian-Tocharian kingdom of Khotan. The reign of the Karahans is especially significant from the point of view of Turkic culture and art history. It is during this period that mosques, schools, bridges and caravansarays were constructed in the cities. Kashgar, Buhara and Samarkand became centres of learning. In the period, the Turkish language found the means to develop. Among the most important works of the period is Kutadgu Bilik (translated as "The Knowledge That Gives Happiness") written by Yusuf Has Hacib, between the years 1069-1070.
Both the Ididqut and the Khanate submitted to the KaraKhitans. After the rise of the Seljuk Turks in Iran and the Kara-Khanids became nominal vassals of the Seljuks. Later they would serve the dual-suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans to the north and the Seljuks to the south. Finally all three states became vassals to Chinggis Khan in 1209.
Most inhabitants in the Besh Balik and Turfan regions did not convert to Islam until the 15th century expansion of the Yarkand Khanate, a Turko-Mongol successor state based in the western Tarim.
Before converting to Islam, Uyghurs included Manichaeans, Buddhists and even some Nestorian Christians.
Currently Turkic and Islamic cultural elements are dominant in the Tarim, which reflects Thousand years of Turkic rule in region and resulted in the replacement of previous religious traditions by Islam. This has had an effect on modern politics because of a very long off-and-on relationship—politically, militarily with China. Sporadic Chinese rule was, in the remote past in these regions, until battle of Talas in Tang dynasty. This history goes a long way to explain the troubled relationship with past and present Chinese institutions and with the dominant ethnic group in China, the Han Chinese.
'Uyghur' is widely credited as having been used for the first time in 1921 with the establishment of the Organization of Revolutionary Uyghur (Inqilawi Uyghur Itipaqi), a Communist nationalist group with intellectual and organizational ties to the Soviet Union. There is some evidence that Uyghur students and merchants living in Russia had already embraced the name prior this date, drawing on Russian studies that claimed a linkage between the historical khanate and Xinjiang's current inhabitants.
Official recognition of the Uyghurs came under the rule of Sheng Shicai who deviated from the official Kuomintang five races of China stance in favor of a Stalinist policy of delineating fourteen distinct ethnic nationalities in Xinjiang.
Following 9/11, China stated its support to the United States of America in the war on terror and many human rights organizations are concerned that this is being used as a pretext to crack down on ethnic Uyghurs. Most Uyghur exile groups today claim their cultural rights are being suppressed by the Chinese government and that the PRC responds to Uyghur expressions of their culture, religion or demands for independence with human rights violations. A large proportion of the Uyghur diaspora supports Pan-Turkic groups and there are several organisations such as the East Turkestan Party. The name Xinjiang is considered offensive by many advocates of independence who prefer to use historical or ethnic names such as Chinese Turkestan, East Turkestan (with Turkestan sometimes spelled as Turkistan) or Uyghurstan.
Though most Uyghur separatists support peaceful, secular Uyghur nationalism, there are some radical Islamic militant groups (such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and East Turkestan Liberation Organization) vying for independence as well. This has caused much confusion with regard to names and belief of Uyghur political groups. Often the Chinese government refers to general East Turkestan to refer to terrorists.
Toward the end of the 19th century and into the first decades of the 20th, scientific and archaeological expeditions to the region of Eastern Turkestan’s Silk Road discovered numerous cave temples, monastery ruins, wall paintings, as well as valuable miniatures, books and documents. Explorers from Europe, America and even Japan were amazed by the art treasures found there, and soon their reports were capturing attention of an interested public around the world. These relics of the Uyghur culture constitute today major collections in the museums of Berlin, London, Paris, Tokyo, Leningrad (St-Petersburg) and the Museum of Central Asian Antiquities in New Delhi. The manuscripts and documents discovered in Xinjiang (Eastern Turkestan) reveal very high degree of civilization attained by the Uyghurs. This Uyghur power, prestige and civilization, which dominated the Central Asia for over a thousand years, went into a steep decline since the Manchu invasion to their homeland.
The Uyghurs are known as educated people, they worked in chanceries and embassies of different states, and they were teachers, military officers, and ambassadors in Rome, Istanbul, and Bagdad, scholars in Tebriz. There are hundreds of famous Uyghur scholars and the Uyghur literature is vast. Some Uyghur books have been translated into different western languages. The Uyghurs had been printing their books for hundreds of years before Gutenberg invented his printing press. In the 11th century the Uyghurs accepted the Arabic alphabet.
Most of the early Uyghur literary works were represented by translations of Buddhist and Manichean religious texts, but there were also narrative, poetic and epic works. Some of these were translated into German, English, Russian and Turkish. After embracing Islam the Uighurs continued to preserve their cultural dominance in Central Asia. World-renowned Uighur scholars emerged, and Uighur literature flourished. Among hundreds of important works surviving from that era are "Qutatqu Bilik"(Beneficial Lore) by Yusuf Balasaguni (Yüsüp Has Hajip) (1069-70), Kashgarli Mehmud´s(Mähmut Qäşqäri's) "Divan-i Lugat-it Türk"Turkish Language Dictionary, and Ähmät Yüknäki's "Atabetul Hakayik".
Throughout the centuries the Uyghurs used the following scripts:
- Confederated with the Göktürks in the 6th and 7th centuries, they used the Orkhon script.
- In the 5th century they adopted Sogdian italic script which became known as the Uighur script. This script was used for almost 800 years not only by the Uighurs, but also by other Turkic peoples, the Mongols, and by the Manchus in the early stage of their rule in China.
- After embracing Islam in the 10th century the Uyghurs adopted the Arabic alphabet, and its use became common in the 11th century.
- The Uyghurs of the former Soviet Union use Cyrillic.
- The Uyghurs of Xinjiang (Eastern Turkestan) use the Arabic and Latin alphabets and the Uyghurs of Turkey use the Latin alphabet.
The Uyghurs had an extensive knowledge of medicine and medical practice. Chinese Song Dynasty (906-960) sources indicate that a Uyghur physician Nanto traveled to China and brought with him many kinds of medicine not known to the Chinese. There are 103 different herbs for use in the Uyghur medicine recorded in a medical compendium by Li Shizhen (1518-1593), a Chinese medical authority. Tartar scholar, professor Rashid Rahmeti Arat in Zur Heilkunde der Uighuren (Medical Practices of the Uighurs) published in 1930 and 1932, in Berlin, discussed the Uighur medicine. Relying on a sketch of a man with an explanation of acupuncture, he and some Western scholars suspect that acupuncture was not a Chinese, but a Uighur discovery.
Kashgarli Mehmud: (Kashgarli Mehmud:, Turkish language dictionary, 11th century) Uyghurs are the best among Turks. Their language is called Hakaniye Turkchesi (King's Turkish).
Albert Gruenwedel: (Along the Ancient Silk Routes: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York April 3 - June 20, 1982) "Turfan(Turpan) is without doubt a forgotten Asian city of extraordinary interest. The size of it is remarkable: the inner, holy city, consisting only of temples and palace, measures 7,400 feet at the widest point of the still extant walls. Hundreds of terraced temples and grandiose vaulted edifices cover an extensive area of lane."
Fredinnad de Sassure: "Those who preserved the language and written culture of Central Asia were the Uyghurs."
Albert von Lecoq: (Shuyl Unver, Medicine in Uyghurs, Istanbul 1936. pp. 4,5,6.) "The Uyghur language and script contributed to the enrichment of civilizations of the other peoples in Central Asia. Compared to the Europeans of that time, the Uyghurs were far more advanced. Documents discovered in Uyghur Region prove that an Uigur farmer could write down a contract, using legal terminology. How many European farmers could have done that at that period ? This shows the extent of Uyghur civilization of that time."
Lazlo Rasonyi: (Lazlo Rasonyi, Turkic in History, Ankara 1971, pp. 105, 107) "The Uyghurs knew how to print books centuries before Guetenberg invented his press."
Wolfram Eberhard: (Wolfram Eberhard, History of China, Istanbul 1947, p. 116) "In Middle Ages, the Chinese poetry, literature, theater, music and painting were greatly influenced by the Uyghurs."
G. Sadvakasov, (Brief History of Uyghur Litarature , Almaty, 1983, p. 7.) Russian scholar Pantusov writes that the Uyghurs manufactured their own musical instruments; they had 62 different kinds of musical instruments and in every Uyghur home there used to be an instrument called a "dutar".
Wang Yen De, the Chinese ambassador in the Karakhoja Uyghur Kingdom in 981-984, wrote the following in his memoirs:
I was impressed with the extensive civilization I have found in the Uyghur Kingdom. The beauty of the temples, monasteries, wall paintings, statues, towers, gardens, housings and the palaces built throughout the kingdom cannot be described. The Uyghurs skilfully make things of silver and gold, vases and pitchers. Some say that God has infused this talent into these people only.
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.
East Turkestan Islamic Movement (
ETIM) is a militant Islamic Uighur group which seeks to separate East Turkestan - as independent state - from the People's Republic of China. It is considered by both the governments of the PRC and the United States to be a terrorist group. Its designation as such by the United States has been controversial with critics arguing that the designation is unfair and intended mainly to improve U.S.-China relations and to gain backing for its War in Iraq. In August 2002, the Bush administration announced it would freeze the group’s US assets.
In 2002, the United Nations also declared it to be a terrorist group.
The government of China claims this group is responsible for several car bomb attacks in Xinjiang in the 1990s, as well as the death of a Chinese diplomat in Kyrgyzstan in 2002. But the group has neither admitted nor denied such accusations. Several arrested members of the group admitted, however, that they were trained by Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. But the ETIM leader Hasan Mahsum, one of China’s most-wanted men, has denied any ties between his group and Al-Qaeda.
On October 2, 2003, one of the founding members and leaders of the group was shot dead by the Pakistani army in a counter-terrorism operation on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Approximately two dozen Uighurs were held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba. On March 3, 2006 the U.S. Department of Defense was forced to release the transcripts of detainees who had attended their Combatant Status Review Tribunals. Most of the Uighur detainees faced allegations that they were tied to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban. They denied all such ties.
Five of the Uighur detainees were among the 38 detainees the Tribunals determined were not "enemy combatants" after all. The United States did not grant the Uighurs asylum. But neither would they repatriate them to China.
On May 5, 2006 the five Uighurs were transported to Albania.
