The “Uyghur Issue” From the Kazakhstan Perspective

The Uyghur ethnic identity and their autochthony of Xinjiang continue to be a subject of academic discussions.However, Chinese authorities as well as Chinese scholars have a permanent position on these matters and reject any alternatives.The "Uyghur issue" has already become a part of the geopolitical game impacting world politics and academia as well.Kazakhstan is a good example of this influence.It has a long common border with northwestern China, a large Uyghur diaspora, and historical connections with Xinjiang.Nonetheless, academia nowadays puts Uyghur Studies in a peripheral position, first of all, because of the geopolitical factor.In this article, I focus on the Uyghurs' ethnic identity and autochthony of Xinjiang based on the historical background of this region covered by Kazakhs and other international historians.It helped me identify the origin of the "Uyghur issue" in the modern context, which explains why there is no global consensus on who the modern Uyghurs are and whether they have the right to claim independence of the territory of modern Xinjiang.During Xi Jinping's era, control over Xinjiang has sharply strengthened and Kazakhstan has conspicuously showed solidarity with the People's Republic of China (PRC).The Uyghurs' separatist aspirations are practically suppressed, but the voices of human rights supporters and Western academia have become louder, attracting the attention of the world community to the "Uyghur issue".