UHRP Celebrates East Turkistan National Day

For immediate release
November 12, 2025, 2:30 p.m. EDT
Contact: Omer Kanat, +1 (202) 790-1795

This November 12, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) joins Uyghurs throughout the world in celebrating East Turkistan National Day.

East Turkistan National Day commemorates two short-lived independent Uyghur republics: the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan, founded on November 12, 1933, and the Republic of East Turkistan, founded on November 12, 1944. For Uyghurs, East Turkistan National Day represents their distinct historical identity and their multi-generational struggle for freedom.

“East Turkistan National Day embodies our hope for freedom, democracy, and self-determination in the Uyghur homeland,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. “On this occasion, we call upon the international community fulfill the moral obligation to stop genocide.”

Today, Uyghurs in East Turkistan face an existential threat. The CCP’s ongoing persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims includes arbitrary detention, forced labor, family separation, religious repression, cultural erasure, and forced sterilization. Multiple governments, including the United States, have recognized China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide and crimes against humanity.

Read more:

From Yalta to UN Resolution 2758: The Disappearance of Uyghur Statehood in International Law, November 12, 2025

Forced Allegiance: Reflections on Flag-raising Ceremonies in Britain and East Turkistan, September 30, 2025

UHRP Condemns White Paper Whitewashing 70 Years of Repression of Uyghurs, September 24, 2025