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{{Infobox militant organization
| name = East Turkestan Liberation Organization
| native_name = شارقىي تۇركەستان ئازاتلىق تەشكىلاتى
| native_name_lang = ug
| other_name =
| logo = The Flag of East Turkistan Republic.png
| caption =
| dates = 2000-2003
| leader = Mehmet Emin Hazret
| motives = [[East Turkestan independence movement|Independence]] of [[East Turkestan]] from [[China]]
| area = [[Xinjiang]]
| ideology =
| crimes =
| attacks =
| status = {{flagicon|China}} Designated as [[terrorism|terrorist]] organisation (15 December 2003)<br>{{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} Designated as terrorist organisation (November 2006)
| size =
| revenue =
| financing =
| url = 
}}

The '''East Turkestan Liberation Organization''' ('''ETLO'''; {{lang-tr|Doğu Türkistan Kurtuluş Örgütü|East Turkistan Islamic Movement}}; {{lang-ug|شارقىي تۇركەستان ئازاتلىق تەشكىلاتى, ''Шәрқий Түркестан Азатлиқ Тешкилати''|Sharqiy Turkestan Azatliq Teshkilati; SHAT}}) was a [[secessionist]] [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] organization that advocated for an independent Uyghur state named [[East Turkestan]] in the [[Western China|Western Chinese]] province known as [[Xinjiang]].<ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/15/asia/AS-GEN-Kyrgyzstan-Extremism.php Kyrgyz authorities arrest fugitive Uighur separatist, International Herald Tribune, February 15, 2007</ref> The organization was established in [[Turkey]] in 1990 or 1996 to fight against the Chinese government in Xinjiang, a territory in which no ethnicity forms a majority, but is inhabited in order of most populous to least by Uyghur, Han Chinese, Kazakh and other Turkic communities.<ref name="web.amnesty.org">http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa170212004 People’s Republic of China Uighurs fleeing persecution as China wages its "war on terror," Amnesty International</ref> [[Xinjiang]] or [[East Turkestan]] has a population of 18 million, eight million of which are Turkic-speaking Muslim [[Uyghur people|Uighurs]]. As a result of Chinese economic development policies, the demography of the region has altered - ethnic [[Han Chinese]] population of the region has risen to 40% or 7.5 million people of the total population, as opposed to 6% in 1949. [[Kazakhs]], the third largest group, constitute 1.2 million. ETLO is a designated terrorist organization by the governments of China and [[Kazakhstan]].<ref name="cctv.com">http://www.cctv.com/english/20070420/103207.shtml</ref><ref name="chinadaily.com.cn">http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/16/content_290658.htm</ref><ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/etlo.htm East Turkistan Liberation Organization (ETLO)] Globalsecurity.org</ref>

==History==
[[Amnesty International]] reports that "The Chinese government’s use of the term "separatism" refers to a broad range of activities, many of which amount to no more than peaceful opposition or dissent. Over the last three years, tens of thousands of people are reported to have been detained for investigation in the region and hundreds, possibly thousands, have been charged or sentenced under the Criminal Law; many Uighurs are believed to have been sentenced to death and executed for alleged "separatist" or "terrorist" offences, although the exact number is impossible to determine."<ref name="web.amnesty.org"/>

In 1998, ETLO members were accused by the government of China of organizing 15 [[arson]] incidents in [[Ürümqi]], and in 1999, [[Istanbul]] police arrested 10 ETLO members for a series of attacks on Chinese people in [[Turkey]].<ref name="vows">{{Cite news|url=http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=3703&t=1|title=Separatist Leader Vows to Target Chinese Government|publisher=[[Radio Free Asia]]|date=2003-01-29|accessdate=2010-11-21}}</ref>

Since [[9/11]], 2001, China has effectively used the international climate to build an international coalition against Uyghur separatist movements.<ref>http://hrichina.org/public/contents/8784 Nicolas Becquelin, Criminalizing Ethnicity: Political Repression in Xinjiang, China Rights Forum, 2004, No:1</ref> On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of "East Turkestan terrorists" and "terrorist organizations" which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the World Uyghur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC).<ref name="hrw.org">http://hrw.org/reports/2005/china0405/4.htm#_Toc100128615 Devastating Blows Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, Human Right Watch</ref> Many analysts{{who|date=October 2014}} claim that Russian and Chinese authorities [[exaggerate]] the potency of the Uyghur groups to justify their repressive "counter-terror" policies.<ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/etlo.htm</ref>

In a 2002 Chinese documentary, "On the Spot Report: The Crimes of Eastern Turkestan Terrorist Power," Wang Mingshan, Deputy Director-General of the Yili-Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Department, claimed that in 1998 Mehmet Emin Hazret, the leader of the ETLO, ordered Hamid Mehmetjan, an [[Egypt]]ian ETLO member, to go to China to recruit members, receive a delivery of weapons on 6 April, and to compile a list of targets for assassination and bombings in Xinjiang. Mingshan also claimed that police and ETLO members exchanged gunfire on 24 April 1998, and that members later stated during interrogation that they were trained at [[Terror camp|camps]] in [[Afghanistan]].<ref name=shichor>{{cite journal |url=http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/CEF/Quarterly/May_2006/Shichor.pdf |title=Fact and Fiction: A Chinese Documentary on Eastern Turkestan Terrorism |first=Yitzhak |last=Shichor |journal=China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly |volume=4 |issue= 2 |publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program |date=May 2006 |format=PDF |accessdate=September 9, 2011}}</ref>

On 15 December 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security issued a list of "East Turkestan terrorists" and "terrorist organizations" which named four organizations and several individuals: the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]] (ETIM), the [[World Uyghur Congress|World Uyghur Youth Congress]] (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC).<ref name="hrw.org">http://hrw.org/reports/2005/china0405/4.htm#_Toc100128615 Devastating Blows
Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, Human Right Watch</ref>
At the same time, the official Chinese press initiated a campaign detailing "terrorist" incidents allegedly carried out by the individuals listed. [[Amnesty International]] regarded these allegations "uncorroborated and no credible evidence was provided to substantiate these claims. Indeed, much of the "evidence" appeared to have been obtained from other individuals under interrogation. In view of the ongoing and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by police in China, particularly to extract "confessions" from detained suspects, Amnesty International believes any "evidence" obtained in this way must be treated with deep suspicion." <ref name="web.amnesty.org"/> In January, Hazret, who avoids public appearances, called into [[Radio Free Asia]] to respond that ETLO wishes to work by peaceful means, but spoke of the "inevitability" of a military wing targeting the Chinese government.<ref name="vows"/> He also stated that the principal goal of the ETLO was to pursue independence through peaceful means,<ref name="flashpoints"/><ref name="in-2003">
{{cite news
|publisher=Agence France Presse
|date=2003-01-30
|title=As repression mounts in Xinjiang, separatists mull military groups
|last=Harmsen
|first=Peter
}}</ref> and denied any participation in terrorist activities or connections to the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]].<ref name="flashpoints">
{{cite journal
|first=Dru C.
|last=Gladney
|title=Xiniang
|journal=Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism
|publisher=Routledge
|year=2006
|editor=Derek S. Reveron and Jefferey Stevenson Murer
|isbn=0-415-95491-6
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjvdsfiWwJcC
}}</ref>
[[Amnesty International]] has criticized the Chinese government response to ETLO, which it says include [[human rights]] violations, such as torture and ill-treatment by police.<ref name="web.amnesty.org"/>

==Shanghai Cooperation Organisation==
[[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]] (SCO) members; China,<ref name=CHINABAN>[http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/2003/12/19/123681/ China releases 'terror' blacklist of Uyghurs] RadioFreeAsia</ref> [[Kazakhstan]],<ref name=KAZBAN>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/11/d927bd44-4aa2-40bf-827d-bf150d77be43.html Uyghur group added to Kazakh terror list] RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty</ref> and [[Kyrgyzstan]],<ref name=KYRGBAN>[http://www.cacianalyst.org/view_article.php?articleid=2020&SMSESSION=NO Islamic groups banned in Kyrgyzstan] Central Asia Caucasus Institute</ref> designated ETLO as a terrorist organization. According to Amnesty International, "the listing of ETIM and ETLO was in keeping with previous allegations made by China against these groups. Both were highlighted in China’s official report on "East Turkestan terrorists" of January 2002 and China’s allegations against ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement) were bolstered in August 2002 when the US, closely followed by the UN formally classified ETIM as a "terrorist organization" after several requests from China.<ref name="web.amnesty.org"/> The American government refused China's request to recognize the East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO) as a terrorist organization in December 2003.<ref>https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/china0405/4.htm Devastating Blows Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, Human Right Watch</ref>

The organization operates primarily in [[Xinjiang]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], but operates throughout [[Central Asia]] and in [[Pakistan]]. The ETLO is allied with the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]] and the [[Taliban]].<ref name=PROFILE>[http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3588 Eastern Turkistan Liberation Organization] MIPT Terror Knowledge Base</ref>
Kazakhstan banned the ETLO, designating it a terrorist organization, on 17 November 2006. The [[United States State Department]] says the ETLO has engaged "small {{Sic|hide=y|politically|-}}motivated bombings and armed attacks".<ref name=KAZBAN/><ref name=MIPTPROFILE>[http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3588 East Turkestan Liberation Organization] MIPT Terror Knowledge Base</ref> The ''Global Defence Review'' allege that it is "widely acknowledged" that [[Al-Qaeda]] gives funding and training to the ETLO and the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]],<ref name=MIPTPROFILE/> although there are doubts about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement's existence.<ref name="google.com">https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5izqnr8jZRqX1Taz8MSCFzUlS_Zjg</ref><ref name="google.com"/><ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2009/0424/p06s04-wogn.html</ref>

==See also==
* [[East Turkestan independence movement]]
* [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]]
* [[2008 Uyghur unrest]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:East Turkestan independence movement]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist in Asia]]
[[Category:Rebel groups in China]]
[[Category:Anti-communist terrorism]]
[[Category:Secessionist organizations in Asia]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 2000]]
[[Category:2003 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by China]]

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