Yaqub Beg establishment of Kashgaria The Kokandi
Yaqub Beg was invited by local rebels to Kashgar during the
Dungan revolt and helped establish the independent state of
Yettishar. Also, during the Dungan revolt, the
Taranchi Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang initially cooperated with the Dungans (Chinese Muslims) when they rose in revolt, but turned on them, because the Dungans, mindful of their Chinese heritage, attempted to subject the entire region to their rule. The Taranchi massacred the Dungans at
Kuldja and drove the rest through the Talk pass into the Ili valley.
Within the Republic of China (1912–1949) was a short-lived
Soviet-backed unrecognized republic in northern
Xinjiang.|thumb|right After the collapse of the
Qing dynasty, the region became largely free of the control of the government of
Republic of China (ROC). An early attempt at East Turkestan independence was the establishment of the short-lived "
First East Turkestan Republic" (aka "Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan"), which lasted between 1933 and 1934. This republic was formed following a rebellion in Kashgar against the ROC, which had been in the process of asserting control over Kashgar after two decades of
Warlordism in the ROC. The Chinese Hui Muslim
36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) suppressed the First East Turkestan Republic following Chinese (ROC) victories at the
Battle of Kashgar (1933) and
Battle of Kashgar (1934). During the later years of China under the ROC, which was engaged against the
Chinese Communists in the context of the
Chinese Civil War, the
Soviet Union under leader
Joseph Stalin invaded Xinjiang and assisted a local rebellion at
Ili (Yining City). The rebellion led to the establishment of the
Second East Turkistan Republic (1944–1949), which existed in three northern districts (
Ili,
Tarbaghatai,
Altai) of Xinjiang with secret aid from the
Soviet Union. After emerging victorious at the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the
People's Liberation Army annexed Xinjiang from the ROC and the Second East Turkestan Republic.
Within the People's Republic of China (1949–present) Since the
reform and opening up from the late 1970s exacerbated uneven regional development, while Uyghurs have migrated to
urbanizing Xinjiang cities, some Hans have also migrated to Xinjiang for independent economic advancement. Increased ethnic contact and labor competition coincided with Uyghur
separatist terrorism from the 1990s, such as the
1997 Ürümqi bus bombings. A police roundup of suspected separatists during
Ramadan resulted in large demonstrations that turned violent in February 1997 in an episode known as the
Ghulja Incident that led to at least 9 deaths. The Ürümqi bus bombings of 25 February 1997, perhaps a response to the crackdown that followed the Ghulja Incident, killed 9 and injured 68. Speaking on separatist violence, Erkin Alptekin, a former East Turkestan National Congress chairman and prominent Uyghur
activist, said: "We must emphasize dialog and warn our youth against the use of violence because it delegitimizes our movement".
Recent events Despite much talk of separatism and terrorism in Xinjiang, especially after the
September 11 attacks in the United States and the
US invasion of Afghanistan, the situation in Xinjiang was quiet from around 1998 to mid-2006. In 2005, Uyghur author
Nurmemet Yasin was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for inciting separatism following his publication of an allegorical short story, "The Blue Pigeon".
Rebiya Kadeer claimed that Turkey is hampered from interfering with the Uyghurs because it recognizes that the
Kurdish-Turkish conflict may receive interference from China in retaliation. == Views on independence ==