The East Turkistan Government in Exile (abbreviated as ETGE or ETGIE), officially the Government in Exile of the Republic of East Turkistan, is a political organization established and headquartered in Washington, D.C. by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other peoples from East Turkistan (Xinjiang). The ETGE claims to be the sole legitimate organization and a parliamentary-based government in exile representing East Turkistan and its people on the international stage.

The formation of the ETGE was declared inside Room HC-6 of the U.S. Capitol Building, though the territories it claims are unrecognized by the United States. The People's Republic of China has sternly opposed the East Turkistan Government in Exile since its creation in September 2004.

The ETGE has been described by scholars as a prominent fringe Uyghur organization that advocates for radical methods and calling for full independence driven by religious and ethnic motives. The organization is among several Uyghur groups that demand total independence in contrast to other organizations that advocate for more autonomy and democracy. It has been called the "most prominent Uyghur organization outside the WUC".

In later years, the ETGE has been actively involved in international advocacy, including events in the U.S. Congress, UK Parliament, Japanese Parliament, Canadian Parliament, and support from members of the European Parliament regarding its genocide complaint to the International Criminal Court.” In May 2026, the ETGE filed a formal petition with the UN Special Committee on Decolonization seeking East Turkistan's listing as a Non-Self-Governing Territory and the application of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to East Turkistan.

Formation

Numerous Uyghur organisations representing the Uyghur movement in exile formed around the world from the 1980s to early 2000s but were disorganised and disunited. In April 2004, two such organizations, the Eastern Turkistan National Congress and the World Uyghur Youth Congress, merged to form the World Uyghur Congress (WUC).

A radical pro-independence minority of the Eastern Turkistan National Congress refused to join the merger and instead established the East Turkistan Government in Exile in Washington D.C. in 2004. They started on the fringes of Uyghur diaspora organizations (including the East Turkistan Liberation Organisation and East Turkestan Islamic Movement) that advocates for "more radical forms of ideological and armed struggle" in contrast to the more moderate methods used by the World Uyghur Congress to influence the Chinese government. In particular, the East Turkistan Government in Exile rejected the autonomy desired by the World Uyghur Congress and instead advocated for independence.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile was formally declared on September 14, 2004, in room HC-6 of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. by members of the global East Turkistani community under the leadership of Anwar Yusuf Turani. Ahmat Igambardi, who had previously been the chairman of the first East Turkistan National Congress created in Istanbul, Turkey in 1992, was elected by the delegates present as president and Turani was elected as Prime Minister.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile claimed to be the "sole organ of the Eastern Turkestan Republic" just four months after the formation of the World Uyghur Congress, threatening the World Uyghur Congress's claim to being the highest Uyghur representative organization and leading to immediate tensions between the two groups. Dilshat Reshit, a co-founder and spokesperson of the WUC, publicly objected to the ETGE's formation, questioning its representativeness in an interview with BBC Chinese at the time. He was later arrested in Sweden in April 2025 on suspicion of espionage for China. Following the WUC's objections, some of its supporters expressed their concerns about the ETGE on the bulletin board of the Uyghur American Association, which is affiliated with the World Uyghur Congress. They wrote statements accusing Anwar Yusuf Turani of acting under the instructions of the Chinese government, particularly in relation to the strategy of dividing dissident organizations." Turani himself was later impeached by the ETGE's Parliament in 2006 for violating its constitution.

Positions

The East Turkistan Government in Exile has been described by scholars as one of several "Uyghur groups advocating radical forms of ideological and armed struggle including terrorist activities". Scholars describe the East Turkistan Government in Exile as a prominent Uyghur organization on the fringes of the East Turkestan independence movement that is marginalized in western politics.

Depending on how large a particular speaker defines the named region, "East Turkistan" has been administered at least in part by the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a situation that the ETGE considers an illegitimate military occupation. The position of the ETGE is that "East Turkistan and its people have a long history of independence". The ETGE does not consider themselves as "separatists" because they believe that, "you can't separate from something you don't belong to." The position of the PRC holds that the integration of Xinjiang into the PRC in 1949 was a "peaceful liberation", and that the region has "long been a part of China".

The ETGE describes itself as democratically elected parliamentary-based exile government that seeks to end "China's occupation and colonization" of East Turkistan, which overlaps with what China calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and seeks to "restore the independence of East Turkistan" which would take the form of a democratic parliamentary republic with protections for civil liberties for all people groups of the region.

Leadership

Government leadership As the Government in Exile is made up of elected representatives from East Turkistani/Uyghur diaspora communities in over 13 countries, its leaders are based in a number of countries. The present leadership took office on November 12, 2023, following elections at the ETGE's 9th General Assembly in Washington, D.C.

Position Name Location President Mamtimin Ala Australia Prime Minister Abdulahat Nur Canada Vice President Sayragul Sauytbay Sweden Minister of Foreign Affairs & Security Salih Hudayar USA Interior Minister Qurbanjan Hisamidin Norway Spokesperson (Uyghur) & Cabinet Secretary Perhat Abduweli Norway Finance Minister Ibrahim Emin Belgium Minister of Education & Religious Affairs Adil Ablimit Netherlands Minister of Information & Communications Jurat Obul USA Minister of Family, Women, Youth & Human Rights Gulvaryam Tokhtiyeva Kazakhstan

Parliamentary leadership The Parliament is the legislative branch of the ETGE. As the Government in Exile's Parliament is made up of 60 members representing diaspora communities in 13 countries, its leaders are based in a number of countries. The present leadership was announced on November 11, 2023, following elections at the ETGE's 9th General Assembly in Washington, D.C. The Parliament is also made up of six committees that help oversee the government's different ministries. Position Name Location Speaker (chairman) of the Parliament Yarmemet Baratjan USA Deputy Speaker (Co-chairman) of the Parliament Abduweli Adem Turkiye Parliamentary Secretary Elijan Emet Belgium Chairman of the Committee on Foreign and Legal Affairs Mirqedir Mirzat France Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Internal Affairs Kurbanjan Hisamdin Norway Chairwoman of the Committee on Communications, Media, and Information Fatmagul Çakan Turkiye Chairman of the Committee on Culture, Education, Religious Affairs and Research Abdullah Khodja France Co-chair of the Committee on Culture, Education, Religious Affairs and Research Abdumutellip Ibrahim France Chairwoman of the Committee on Family, Women, Youth, and Human Rights Amannissa Mukhlis USA

Previous leadership

2019 – 2023 Position Name Location President Ghulam Osman Yaghma Canada Vice President Abdulahat Nur Canada Prime Minister Salih Hudayar USA Deputy Prime Minister Mirqedir Mirzat France Speaker (chairman) of Parliament Osmancan Tursun Germany

2015 – 2019

Position Name Location President Ahmatjan Osman (impeached in October 2018) Canada Ghulam Osman Yaghma (Acting; October 2018 – November 2019) Canada Prime Minister Ismail Cengiz (impeached in April 2019) Turkiye Abdulahat Nur (Acting; April 2019 – November 2019) Canada Vice President Hizirbek Gayretullah Turkiye Speaker (chairman) of Parliament Koresh Atahan Germany

2009 – 2015 Position Name Location President Ahmet Igemberdi Australia Vice President Hizirbek Gayretullah Turkiye Prime Minister Ismail Cengiz Turkiye Speaker (chairman) of Parliament Sultan Mahmut Kashgari Turkiye

2006 – 2009 Position Name Location President Ahmet Igemberdi Australia Prime Minister Damiyan Rehmet Australia Vice President Abdvueli Can Turkiye Speaker (chairman) of Parliament Sultan Mahmut Kashgari Turkiye

2004 – 2006 Position Name Location President Ahmet Igemberdi Australia Prime Minister Anwar Yusuf Turani (impeached in 2006) USA Damiyan Rehmet (Acting) Australia Vice President Abduveli Can Turkiye Speaker (chairman) of Parliament Sultan Mahmut Kashgari Turkiye

Activities Since 2019, the ETGE has participated in international advocacy, including briefings hosted by the U.S. Congress, events in the UK Parliament, the Japanese National Diet, and briefings and consultations with members of the Canadian Parliament. 38 Members of the European Parliament and more than 60 parliamentarians from 16 countries affiliated with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China expressed support for the East Turkistan Government in Exile's genocide complaint before the International Criminal Court. The ETGE has also lobbied for governments to recognize China's actions in Xinjiang as genocide; its representatives briefed Canadian and U.S. lawmakers prior to resolutions in both countries declaring that Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples were victims of genocide.

On July 14, 2020, the ETGE signed onto a joint letter by 64 Canadian MPs and 20 organizations urging Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his deputy Chrystia Freeland and Global Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne to sanction PRC and Hong Kong officials "directly responsible for the human rights atrocities happening in Tibet, occupied East Turkestan (Xinjiang), and Hong Kong."

On August 15, 2020, Salih Hudayar the Prime Minister of the ETGE greeted India on its 74th Independence Day and said that "the decades of prolonged Chinese occupation and genocide in East Turkistan has taught us that without independence there is no way to guarantee or ensure even our most basic human rights, freedoms, and our very survival." In a public demonstration, Prime Minister Hudayar urged the United States government and the United Nations to "break their silence and stand up against China."

On August 28, 2020, the ETGE held a global demonstration in Adelaide, Tokyo, Frankfurt, The Hague, Paris, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Edmonton to protest what they claim are China's atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples and urged the international community to recognize the alleged atrocities as a genocide while also recognizing "East Turkistan as an occupied country."

International Criminal Court case