Kashgaria (Yettishar) , which flew over Kashgar from 1873 to 1877 The breakaway state of
Kashgaria (Yettishar) flew the
flag of the Ottoman Empire from 1873 to 1877. A
large Muslim revolt against
Qing rule erupted in East Turkestan in 1862. The
Kokandi military leader
Yakub Beg conquered several
oases in the region's west and proclaimed an
emirate centered around
Kashgar in 1864. Seyyid Yaqub Khan Töre, an official Kokandi envoy, made four trips to
Istanbul from 1865 to 1875 to request
Ottoman support for Yakub Beg. By the time of his last trip in April 1875, the Ottoman flag had already been flying over Kashgar for two years. In August 1875, the
Ottoman sultan bestowed upon Yakub the title of
emir and the (the sultan's holy flag), and sent military advisors and weapons to assist Yakub Beg's army. An expeditionary army sent by the Qing reconquered the area after Yakub Beg's sudden passing in 1877. Töre petitioned the Ottoman sultan to persuade the
Qing emperor to withdraw his forces from Kashgaria, citing Kashgar's raising of the Ottoman flag as evidence of Ottoman sovereignty over the area. Töre's request was ignored.
First East Turkestan Republic , president of the
First East Turkestan Republic, in front of the Kök Bayraq in January 1934 The Kök Bayraq was adopted as the flag of the
First East Turkestan Republic, officially the Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan, upon its proclamation of independence on 12 November 1933.
Pan-Turkic and
pan-Islamic sentiments among the Turkic population of East Turkestan culminated in local resistance against Chinese rule and the foundation of the republic in
Khotan. A government with a constitution and legislature was established, with the Kök Bayraq specifically defined in the former. The design of a blue field with a white star and crescent, nearly identical to the Turkish flag, was meant to symbolise the republic's cultural and political ties to
Turkey. While the Turkish public expressed enthusiasm at the republic's founding, the Turkish foreign ministry exercised caution. The Turkish foreign minister acknowledged Turkey's "feelings for a people which speaks her language" and reasserted the right of every nation to
self-determination, but immediately denied any connection to the republic.
Soviet diplomatic pressure kept Turkish political influence out of Central Asia in general, and the republic collapsed with the capture of Kashgar by the
Hui Muslim forces of the
Ma clique on 6 February 1934.
Second East Turkestan Republic On 7 November 1944, uprisings against Chinese rule erupted in the three northern districts of
Ili,
Tarbagatay, and
Altay. Five days later, the
Second East Turkestan Republic (officially just the East Turkestan Republic or ETR) was proclaimed in
Ghulja (Yining). The new state was covertly supported by the Soviet Union, but its leadership was dominated by religious conservatives who saw it as a restoration of the First East Turkestan Republic. A green flag charged with a star and crescent was adopted as the national flag of the ETR, with the green symbolising Islam.
Seypidin Azizi, a member of the ETR government who would later become the first chairman of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, described an additional flag in his biographical work
The Eagle of Tian ShanThe Life of Abdukerim Abbasov. In it, he describes a meeting he had with other Uyghur political leaders the day after the ETR's founding. He was the first to speak, expressing his confusion at the sudden turn of events in Ghulja: "Early this morning, many flags appeared on the street. One was a green field with a white star and crescent, and the other was a white field with
'There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God', written with gold powder. What is going on?" The exact designs and dimensions of the flags are not described by Seypidin in his work. == Contemporary usage ==