Abstract:

The struggle for the independence of East Turkestan dates back to the middle of the eighteenth century, when China began to pursue an expansionist policy. In the middle of this century, the Chinese, using the internal struggles among the Turks, dominated the Turkestan geography in a short time. After the Chinese took over the region, they named East Turkestan Xinjiang and started to eliminate the Turkish presence here. These assimilation policies were the beginning of the East Turkestan cause that will last until today. This study aims to analyze one of the first magazines published by Isa Yusuf Alptekin, one of the leading figures of the East Turkestan cause, "China Turkestan Avazı". The subject of the magazine includes the history of the East Turkestan independence struggle and the political, social and economic events of the period. In addition, the problems of the people of the region with China and Russia were included in the magazine as witnesses of the period. The method of the study is the transcription of the Uyghur text of the journal in Arabic script and its analysis with a historical-critical approach. Considering that Uyghur sources are not sufficiently utilized in studies on East Turkestan, introducing this important source that sheds light on the history and culture of East Turkestan will contribute to the field.

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