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{{Infobox Politician
| name        = Isa Yusuf Alptekin<br>(艾薩·玉素甫·阿布甫泰肯)
| image       = İsa Yusuf Alptekin.jpg
| image_size  = 100px
| caption     = 
| office      = Member of the [[Legislative Yuan]] from Xinjiang province
| term_start  = 1939
| term_end    = -
| predecessor   =
| successor     =
| birth_date  = 1901
| birth_place = [[Kashgar]], [[Qing Dynasty]]
| death_date  = 1995
| death_place = [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]]
| profession  = [[Politician]]
| religion    = [[Sunni Islam]]
}}

'''Isa Yusuf Alptekin''' or ʿĪsa Yūsuf Alptekin ({{lang-ug| ئەيسا يۈسۈپ ئالپتېكىن|}} (عيسى يوسف الپتگین) or (عيسى يوسف الپتكین) ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]:İsa Yusuf Alptekin )Айсабек {{zh|s=艾萨·玉素甫·阿布甫泰肯|p=Àisà Yùsùfŭ Ābùfŭtàikěn}};<ref name="trans"/> 1901 – 17 December 1995), known in China as '''Ai Sha''' ({{zh|t=艾沙伯克|s=艾沙伯克|p=àishābókè}}), was a [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] political leader. After the communist takeover of [[Xinjiang]], Alptekin went into exile from [[China]] in 1949.

==Biography==
He was born at 1901 in [[Yengisar County]], [[Kashgar]], [[Qing Dynasty]]. He headed the [[First East Turkestan Republic]] in Kashgar from November 12, 1933 to February 6, 1934 as the [[General Secretary]] of the National Assembly of the Republic, alongside Prime Minister [[Sabit Damulla Abdulbaki|Sabit Damulla]], and titular President [[Hoja-Niyaz]].  He also represented [[Xinjiang]] in [[Nanjing]] 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, [[Kazakhs]] and [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]]; its anti-[[Hui people|Hui]], anti-[[Han Chinese|Han]], and anti-[[communism|communist]] policies, declared in its [[declaration of independence]]; and basic [[Islam]]ic principles, declared in its constitution.

He stayed in Nanjing, and then fled to [[Chongqing]] with the Chinese government when Japan invaded. He lived there along with several other Uyghurs like [[Masud Sabri]].

In order to gain sympathy for the [[Chinese Muslims in the Second Sino-Japanese War|Chinese War against Japan]] Egypt, Syria, and Turkey was visited by Hui Muslim 馬賦良 Ma Fuliang and Uyghur Muslim Isa Yusuf Alptekin in 1939, they contacted [[Muhammad Amin Bughra]] when they also went to Afghanistan in 1940, they asked him to come to [[Chongqing]], the capital of the [[Kuomintang]] regime. Kuomintang arranged for Bughra's release since due to spying British had arrested Bughra. Kuomintang Muslim publications used Isa and Bughra as editors.{{sfn|Lin|2010|p=90}}

The bombardment of Chinese Muslims by the warplanes of the Japanese was reported in the newspapers of Syria. Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon were all toured by the delegation. The Foreign Minister, Prime Minister, and President of Turkey met with the Chinese Muslim delegation after they came via Egypt in May 1939. Gandhi and Jinnah met with the Hui Ma Fuliang and Uyghur Isa Alptekin as they denounced Japan.<ref>http://www.xzbu.com/7/view-1606508.htm</ref>

Ma Fuxliang, Isa Alptekin, Wang Zengshan, Xue Wenbo, and Lin Zhongming all went to Egypt to denounce Japan in front of the Arab and Islamic words.<ref>http://www.xzbu.com/4/view-3247116.htm</ref> China was supported by Alptekin during the Japanese invasion.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Muslim World|url=https://books.google.com/?id=74VtAAAAMAAJ&q=Turkistan.+During+the+Sino-Japanese+War+he+advocated+the+cause+of+China+and+continued+his+efforts+for+the+autonomy+of+Sinkiang.&dq=Turkistan.+During+the+Sino-Japanese+War+he+advocated+the+cause+of+China+and+continued+his+efforts+for+the+autonomy+of+Sinkiang.|year=1994|publisher=Motamar al-Alam al-Islami; World Muslim Congress|page=99}}</ref>

Isa returned to Xinjiang, and he opposed the [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] in northern Xinjiang during the [[Ili Rebellion]] since it was a Soviet Communist puppet state of Stalin, instead, he worked for the Chinese Kuomintang regime of [[Zhang Zhizhong]]. There were 3 Effendis, (Üch Äpändi) (ئۈچ ئەپەندى) Aisa Alptekin, Memtimin Bughra (Muhammad Amin Bughra), and Masud Sabri.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-first=James A.|editor1-last=Millward|editor2-first=Yasushi|editor2-last=Shinmen|editor3-first=Jun|editor3-last=Sugawara|publisher=The Toyo Bunko|year=2010|location=Tokyo|first=Ablet|last=Kamalov|page=260|series=Studies on Xinjiang Historical Sources in 17-20th Centuries|title=Uyghur Memoir literature in Central Asia on Eastern Turkistan Republic (1944-49)|url=http://www.academia.edu/2277955/Uyghur_Memoir_literature_in_Central_Asia_on_Eastern_Turkistan_Republic_1944-49_}}</ref><ref name="Klimeš2015 2">{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q&f=false|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=197–}}</ref> The Second East Turkestan Republic attacked them as Kuomintang "puppets".<ref name="Klimeš2015 3">{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900-1949|url=https://books.google.com/?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA241&lpg=PA241&dq=khelq+people#v=onepage&q=khelq%20people&f=false|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=241–}}</ref><ref name="Wang1999">{{cite book|author=David D. Wang|title=Clouds Over Tianshan: Essays on Social Disturbance in Xinjiang in the 1940s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c06Er-AvexcC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false|date=January 1999|publisher=NIAS Press|isbn=978-87-87062-62-6|pages=28–}}</ref>

Isa lead a delegation of 36 Uyghurs to support murderers in [[Lanzhou]] who in revenge for [[Sheng Shicai]] killing their family members, slaughtered a five-year-old girl, and a seven-year-old boy who were Sheng's niece and nephew and nine other relatives of Sheng Shicai. Isa said that the slaughter was justified.{{sfn|Brown & Pickowicz eds.|2007|p=191}}

In Ürümqi (Uyghur) Muslim women who married Han Chinese men were assaulted by hordes of (Uyghur) Muslims on July 11, 1947, and the women were seized and kidnapped by the hordes. Old (Uyghur) Muslim men forcibly married the women. In response to the chaos a curfew was placed at 11 p.m.<ref>{{cite book| last = Benson| first = Linda| title = The Ili Rebellion The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944-1949| url = https://books.google.com/?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA74| year = 1990| publisher = M.E. Sharpe| isbn = 978-0-87332-509-7| page = 74 }}</ref>

The [[East Turkestan independence movement#Intermarriage between Han Chinese and Uyghur|marriages between Muslim (Uyghur) women and Han Chinese men]] infuriated Isa Yusuf Alptekin.<ref>{{cite book|author=Linda Benson|title=The Ili Rebellion: The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA164#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=1990|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-87332-509-7|pages=164–}}</ref>

Anti Soviet sentiment was espoused by Isa while Pro Soviet sentiment was espoused by [[Burhan Shahidi|Burhan]]. The Soviets were angered by Isa.<ref name="BrownPickowicz2007">{{cite book|author1=Jeremy Brown|author2=Paul Pickowicz|title=Dilemmas of Victory: The Early Years of the People's Republic of China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SK7Jdfnf9RIC&pg=PA188#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=2007|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02616-2|pages=188–}}</ref>

He asked [[Ma Bufang]] on whether Chiang Kaishek and the Chinese government would allow an independent Islamic state in southern Xinjiang to counter the Communists and the Soviet backed East Turketsan Republic, but Ma Bufang did not bother with this request, instead, Ma fled on an American CIA plane as the Communist army approached Qinghai with several million dollars in gold. Ma then fled to Taiwan, then to Egypt.

Alptekin fled the communist takeover of Xinjiang theough the Himalayas, reaching Ladakh in Kashmir and going into exile in Turkey. In 1954, he and Muhammad Amin Bughra went to Taiwan to try to persuade the [[Kuomintang]] government of the [[Republic of China]] of dropping its claims to Xinjiang. Their demand was rejected and Taiwan affirmed that it claimed Xinjiang as "an integral part of China".<ref>Page 52, Ismail, Mohammed Sa'id, and Mohammed Aziz Ismail. [http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA365044 Moslems in the Soviet Union and China]. Translated by U.S. Government, Joint Publications Service. Tehran, Iran: Privately printed pamphlet, published as vol. 1, 1960 (Hejira 1380); translation printed in Washington: JPRS 3936, September 19, 1960.</ref>

Members of the American Congress in 1970 met with Alptekin.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date= 2016-04-30  |title=غەرب دۇنياسىدىكى ئۇيغۇرلار (4A) |url=http://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/medeniyet-tarix/gherb-dunyasidiki-uyghurlar-04302016112419.html |newspaper=Radio Free Asia |location= |access-date= }}</ref> Alptekin met with the ultra-nationalist Pan-Turkic leader [[Alparslan Türkeş]].<ref>http://www.hurgokbayrak.com/yeni_sayfa_162.htm</ref><ref>http://www.turkislamdavasi.com/isa-yusuf-alptekini-rahmet-ve-minnetle-yad-ediyoruz/</ref><ref>http://www.dtv.org.tr/?HABER/572/alparslan-turkesin-dogu-turkistan-davasina-bakisi.html</ref><ref>http://www.eskipazaryerel78.com/?pnum=98&pt=T%C3%9CRK%C4%B0STANDAK%C4%B0+M%C3%9CSL%C3%9CMAN+T%C3%9CRK+KARDE%C5%9ELER%C4%B0M%C4%B0Z%C4%B0N+D%C3%9CN%C3%9C+VE+BU+G%C3%9CN%C3%9C</ref><ref>http://www.turkcuturanci.com/turkcu/turkcu-ogreti/ynt-ruzgar-birligi/10/</ref><ref>http://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/turkes-turkistan-turklugun-davasi-20025h.htm</ref> Alptekin spouted [[Anti-Armenian sentiment|anti-Armenian]] rhetoric while he was in Turkey and claimed that innocent Turkish Muslims were massacred by Armenians.<ref>http://www.konyayenigun.com/haber/93883/Isa_Yusuf_Alptekin_ve_Turkiyenin_Siyasal_Hayatina_Etkileri.html</ref><ref>http://www.dtv.org.tr/?MAKALE/38/isa-yusuf-alptekin-ve-turkiyenin-siyasal-hayatina-etkileri.html&git=3</ref><ref>http://www.konyayenigun.com/cikti.php?mode=news&id=93883</ref><ref>http://www.gokbayrak.com/dergi_oku.asp?id=100&sid=540</ref><ref>“Dış Türk Kardeşlerime sesleniyorum!

Ermeni katilleri protesto eden mitingler, yürüyüşler tertip etmeliyiz. Ermenileri destekleyen devletleri ve milletleri şiddetle telin etmeliyiz…

İslam Dünyasına sesleniyorum!

Bir milyarı aşan İslam âlemi; diniyle, kitabıyla, Rasulüyle bir bütündür. (Bu sebeple) birimizin dostu hepimizin dostu, birimizin düşmanı hepimizin düşmanı olmadı idi… Fakat maalesef olmadı. Olamıyor. Birimizin düşmanı maalesef diğerinin dostu oluyor. Ermeni caniler masum Müslüman Türk kardeşlerimizi katlederken, İslam dünyası sessiz kalıyor, sükût ediyor…

Ortadoğu’daki Müslüman devletler ve milletler şunu bilmelidirler ki, bugün Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, dünya hâkimiyeti güden Rusya ile sizin aranızda yıkılmaz bir kale, aşılmaz bir settir. Evvel Allah Türkiye sayesinde hür ve müstakil yaşama imkânına sahip bulunuyorsunuz… Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin mevcudiyeti, sizin de mevcudiyetiniz ve bekanızın teminatı demektir.

Ermenileri destekleyen devletlere sesleniyorum!

Şunu unutmayınız ki, esaret altında olsalar bile yüz milyon Türk, Türkiye’ye yekvücut gibi bağlıdır. Onun zararına olacak her hareket, bütün Türk dünyasını incitmiş olacak, ona yan bakanlar, yüz milyon Dış Türkü yanında  yanında bulacaktır.

Bunları bütün dünyanın böyle bilmesini istiyoruz.”</ref>

Isa Yusuf Alptekin was the father of [[Erkin Alptekin]]. During Alptekin's exile in Turkey, where he received great support from [[Pan-Turkism|Pan-Turkic]] elements in the [[Government of Turkey]], the PRC government denounced him for continuing his "[[Xinjiang]] independence activities", and for trying to overthrow the "[[socialist]] system". When he died there in 1995, over a million people {{Citation needed|date=June 2014}} allegedly attended his funeral, and he was buried in Topkapı Cemetery, next to the mausoleums of two former Turkish leaders, [[Adnan Menderes]] and [[Turgut Özal]].{{sfn|Polat|1995}}{{sfn|Kayıkçı|2008}} In 1995, a park was dedicated to Alptekin in the [[Sultan Ahmed Mosque|Blue Mosque]] section in [[Istanbul]], along with a memorial for [[martyr]]s of the late [[East Turkestan Independence Movement]]. The high-profile nature of the dedication, including the attendance of the Turkish President, Prime Minister, chairman of parliament and others, enraged China. It denounced Turkey for meddling in its 'internal affairs', and the Turkish state department requested the closing of the park, but domestic constituencies refused.<ref name="trans">{{Cite book|title=Muslim networks and transnational communities in and across Europe|first=Stefano|last=Allievi|first2=Jørgen|last2=Nielsen|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2003|isbn=978-90-04-12858-3|pages=303–305}}</ref>{{sfn|Çolakoğlu|2013|page=35}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book
|title=Dilemmas of Victory: The Early Years of the Peoples Republic of China|year=2007|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674026160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SK7Jdfnf9RIC|edition=illustrated|editor1-first=Jeremy|editor1-last=Brown|editor2-first=Paul G.|editor2-last=Pickowicz|accessdate=8 April 2013|ref = {{harvid|Brown & Pickowicz eds.|2007}}
}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Çolakoğlu|first1=Selçuk|title=Turkey-China Relations: Rising Partnership|journal=Middle Eastern Analysis/Ortadogu Analiz|date=2013|volume=5|issue=52|url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/2013415_3selcukcolakoglu.pdf|ref=harv}}
*{{Cite web|url=http://oxuscom.com/sovinxj.htm |title=The Soviets in Sinkiang (1911-1949) |date=1990 |accessdate=28 June 2014 |website= |publisher=Oxus Communications |last=Dickens |first=Mark |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023203643/http://www.oxuscom.com/sovinxj.htm |archivedate=23 October 2008 |df= }}
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC|title=Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A Journey to the West|last=Lin|first=Hsiao-ting|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=|isbn=0-415-58264-4|page=|pages=|accessdate=2010-06-28|ref=harv}}
*{{Cite web|url = http://dengegazetesi.com.tr/author_article_detail.php?id=342|title = Unutulan Vatan: Türkistan ve İsa Yusuf Alptekin Destanı|date =14 March 2008|accessdate = 28 June 2014|website = |publisher = Denge Gazetesi|last = Kayıkçı|first = Ali|ref=harv}}
*{{Cite web|url = http://www.medeniyetimiz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2008:dou-tuerkistann-bamszlk-oenderi-sa-yusuf-alptekin&catid=58:genel&Itemid=76|title = Doğu Türkistan’ın bağımsızlık önderi İsa Yusuf Alptekin|date = 17 December 1995|accessdate = 28 June 2014|website = |publisher = |last = Polat|first = Mehmet Şadi|ref=harv}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
*[http://crwflags.com/fotw/flags/cn-islam.html Flags of Independence]
* [http://washington.eastwestcenter.org/publications/bovingdon.pdf Gardner Bovingdon. " Autonomy in Xinjiang: Han nationalists imperatives and uyghur discontent."]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alptekin, Isa}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Uyghurs]]
[[Category:Uyghur activists]]
[[Category:Pan-Turkists]]
[[Category:Chinese anti-communists]]
[[Category:Turkish anti-communists]]