East Turkestan Liberation Organization
| East Turkestan Liberation Organization | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Mehmet Emin Hazret |
| Dates of operation | 1997–2003 |
| Motives | Independence of East Turkestan from China |
| Active regions | Xinjiang |
| Ideology | Uyghur nationalism, Separatism, Islamism, Turanism |
| Status | Designated as a terrorist organization (15 December 2003) Designated as a terrorist organization (November 2006) Designated as a terrorist organization (September 2007) |
| East Turkestan Liberation Organization | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 東突厥斯坦解放組織 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 东突厥斯坦解放组织 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Uyghur name | |||||||
| Uyghur | شارقىي تۇركەستان ئازاتلىق تەشكىلاتى | ||||||
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The East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO) was a secessionist Uyghur organization that advocated for an independent Uyghur state named East Turkestan in the Western Chinese province known as Xinjiang. The organization was established in Turkey in late 1997 to fight against the Chinese government in Xinjiang, a territory of ethnic Uyghur majority.
ETLO has been described by scholars as demanding total independence and supporting or being indifferent to more radical methods driven by religious and ethnic motives. ETLO is a designated terrorist organization by the governments of China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.