Erkin Alptekin

Erkin Alptekin (born on July 4, 1939 in East Turkistan) is a noted international advocate for the rights of native and indigenous people.

Erkin is the son of Isa Yusuf Alptekin, late General Secretary of the Provincial Government of East Turkistan. After the occupation of East Turkistan by the Chinese Communists in 1949, he sought refuge in Srinagar, Kashmir, India, with his parents. His schooling began in Urumchi, capital of East Turkistan and he graduated from Convent College in Srinagar, and the Institute of Journalism, in Istanbul, Turkey.

In 1971 he joined Radio Free Europe/Liberty, in Munich, Germany. He worked there as a Program Specialist, Senior Research Analyst, Assistant Director of the Nationality Services and Senior Policy Advisor to the Director of Radio Liberty. He asked for his early retirement when Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty decided to move to Prague, the Czech Republic, in 1995.

Advocacy

Erkin Alptekin has been effectively lobbying, not only for his own people's cause but also the cause of many other nations, peoples, minorities and the indigenous peoples in Western countries since 1971. He is one of the founders of the Allied Committee of the Peoples of East Turkistan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, in 1985, in Zürich, Switzerland. He is still the executive president of that organization. In 1991, with the support of some of his countrymen he founded the East Turkistan Union in Europe (ETUE), in Munich, Germany. In 1991, he also became one of the founders of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which has its seat in The Hague, the Netherlands. Between 1991 and 2003, Alptekin served as the Vice Chairman, Chairman and the General Secretary of the UNPO. At present UNPO has 60 members representing almost 150 million people in the world. In 2000, together with Mr. Federico Mayor, the former Cultural Minister of Spain and Ms. Daniela Mitterrand, the former First Lady of France, he became one of the founders of the UBUNTU (Peace), in Barcelona, Spain. During a conference held in Munich, Germany, between April 16- 18 April, 2004 Alptekin was elected as the President of the World Uyghur Congress.

Erkin Alptekin is also on the advisory board of several international organizations situated in Asia, Europe and in the United States.

For the last 35 years Alptekin has attended more than 6,000 international conferences world-wide on various topics; published numerous articles, research papers and brochures; and has been the focus of several Western press media.

Personal

Erkin Alptekin is married and has a son. Besides his mother tongue Uyghur, Erkin Alptekin speaks Turkish, English and German. He lives in Germany.