BEIJING, Jul. 23, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- With explosions targeting civilians, assassinations, arson attacks, poisonings and al-Qaeda style video footages threatening dire actions, the "East Turkestan" separatists have long been terrorists.
The three "East Turkestan" groups -- the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), the East Turkestan Union in Europe and the East Turkestan Information Center, have proved to have close links with terrorism.
Dolqun Isa, WUC secretary general and president of the East Turkestan Union in Europe, is also the vice president of the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), which has been classified by the United Nations as a terrorist organization.
The East Turkestan Information Center released a video via the British Broadcasting Corporation prior to the 50th anniversary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2005, threatening an armed revolt for "East Turkestan independence."
Holding automatic rifles, three hooded men declared they would "do whatever possible to launch an armed campaign against the Chinese government," -- reminiscent of the cold-blooded al-Qaeda killers.
Abudujelili Kalakash is the founder of the East Turkestan Information Center. He and Isa abandoned the group after it was listed as sponsors of terrorism.
Isa chose the WUC, while Kalakash became vice president of the World Uyghur Youth Congress. He later joined the WUC too.
The "East Turkestan" forces, under the influence of terrorism, extremism and separatism, pose a severe threat not only to China, but also to the Asian-Pacific (OOTC:ASNPF) region and the world at large.
Their terrorist activities since the 1990s, including bombings, assassinations, arson attacks and poisonings, have known no boundaries.
In March 1997, "East Turkestan" terrorists opened fire on the Chinese embassy in Ankara, Turkey, attacked the Chinese consulate-general in Istanbul, and burnt the Chinese national flag.
On March 5, 1998, they launched a bomb attack against the Chinese consulate-general in Istanbul.
In March 2000, Nighmet Bosakof, president of the Kyrgyzstan "Uygur Youth Alliance," was shot dead in front of his house by ETLO members as he had refused to cooperate with them.
In May 2000, members of the Uygur Liberation Organization extorted 100,000 U.S. dollars as ransom after kidnapping a Xinjiang businessman. They murdered his nephew, and set fire to the Bishkek Market of Chinese Commodities.
On May 25, 2000, terrorists attacked a work team of the Xinjiang People's Government which was sent to Kyrgyzstan to deal with the above case.
