East Turkistan Islamic Movement

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See also: Uighur

See also: Uighur detainees in Guantanamo

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a militant group that calls for secession from China and was designated as a terrorist group by the US government in 2002. They are from a region that China calls the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region, usually called Turkistan. The region shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group was listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. following the 9-11 attack, but most of the concern about it is Chinese; human rights groups have suggested it is merely an excuse for crackdown on dissent. In July 2008 the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Chinese cities, including bus explosions in Shanghai and Kunming. TIP may be another name for ETIM.^[1]

The area commonly referred to as Turkistan is sometimes split into Western Turkistan and Eastern Turkistan. Western Turkistan was controlled by the Russian empire and then by the USSR, and so the area is also referred to as Russian Turkistan. The USSR treated this area as an autonomous region. ^[2] Following the dissolution of the USSR, the region was split among five new republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Eastern Turkistan has long been a part of China and is sometimes referred to as Chinese Turkistan.

It has been alleged that al-Qaeda provided financial assistance and training to ETIM. ETIM is not the only terrorist group committed to an Islamic state in the Turkistan area; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is another significant terrorist operation pushing for a theoretical Islamic Turkistan state.

22 Uighurs were detained at Guantanamo, captured in Afghanistan and suspected of participation in ETIM. ^[3]

References