Isa Alptekin

Infobox Politician
name = Isa Yusuf Alptekin


image_size = 100px
caption =
office = General Secretary of the National Assembly, First East Turkestan Republic
term_start = 12 November 1933
term_end = 6 February, 1934
predecessor ="Office instituted"
successor ="Office abolished"
birth_date = 1901
birth_place = Yengisar County, Kashgar vilayet, Eastern Turkestan
death_date = 1995
death_place = Istanbul, Turkey
profession = Politician

Isa Yusuf Alptekin (1901-1995) was a Uyghur political leader, exiled from China in 1949. He was born at 1901 in Yengisar County of Kashgar vilayet in Eastern Turkestan. He headed the First East Turkestan Republic in Kashgar (November 12, 1933 - February 6, 1934) as the General Secretary of the National Assembly of the Republic, alongside Prime Minister Sabit Damulla, and titular President Hoja-Niyaz. He also represented Eastern Turkestan in Nanking from 1932 to 1934. Initially the Republic was named the "Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan" (TIRET), representing the multi-national staff of its Government, which included Uyghurs as well as Kazakhs and Kyrgyz; its anti-Hui, anti-Han, and anti-communist policies, declared in its Declaration of Independence; and basic Islamic principles, declared in its Constitution. Later, however, some leaders attempted to rename it as the Republic of Uyghurstan, which resulted in the issuing of national currency in the form of minted copper ("pul"), silver ("tanga"), and gold ("tilla") coins under the name "Uyghurstan Jumhuriyeti".

Isa Yusuf Alptekin was the father of Erkin Alptekin. He died at the age of 94, in Istanbul, in 1995, and around 1,000,000 Turkish people, from top government officials to ordinary citizens, participated in his farewell mourning procession. Isa was buried in a grave next to the graves of two former Turkish presidents, and a memorial park, named after him, was erected in Istanbul with the Eastern Turkestan national flag, "Kok Bayraq", flying on its grounds.

References

*Mark Dickens. "The Soviets in Sinkiang (1911-1949)". USA, 1990.

Links

* [http://crwflags.com/fotw/flags/cn-islam.html Flags of Independence]
* [http://oxuscom.com/sovinxj.htm The Soviets in Xinjiang (1911-1949) by Mark Dickens]
* [http://washington.eastwestcenter.org/publications/bovingdon.pdf Gardner Bovingdon. " Autonomy in Xinjiang: Han nationalists imperatives and uyghur discontent."]