Global InformationTurkistan Islamic Party information
| Turkistan Islamic Party | |
|---|---|
| تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى | |
 | |
| Leaders |
|
| Governing body | Shura Council |
| Dates of operation | 1997–present |
| Group(s) | Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria[4] |
| Motives | An Islamic state in Xinjiang and the entire Central Asia, eventually Caliphate[5] |
| Headquarters | Idlib Governorate, Syria (largest operation base) |
| Active regions |
|
| Ideology | Anti-Chinese sentiment Anti-Zionism Sunni Islamism Islamic fundamentalism Pan-Islamism Separatism |
| Status | Designated as a terrorist organization by China, the European Union, the United Nations and multiple other governments; the ETIM is no longer designated as a terrorist organization by the United States since 2020, however the TIP is still designated as a terrorist organization. The U.S. views the TIP as separate from the ETIM.[10] (see below) |
| Size | 1,000 in Afghanistan (2022 UN report)[11]
4,000 in Syria |
| Allies |
|
| Opponents |
 Islamic State - Khorasan Province[17] |
| Battles and wars |
|
| Turkistan Islamic Party | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 突厥斯坦伊斯兰党 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 突厥斯坦伊斯蘭黨 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Uyghur name | |||||||
| Uyghur | تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى | ||||||
| |||||||
| History of Xinjiang |
|---|
 |
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP)[note 1] is a terrorist Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Pakistan by Hasan Mahsum. Its stated goals are to establish an Islamic state in Xinjiang and Central Asia.[5]
The Chinese government asserts that the TIP is synonymous with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), but the United States government refuses this, stating that there has been "no credible evidence" of ETIM activity since the 2000s. The US government argues that the ETIM label has been misused by the Chinese government to justify its "oppressive policies" against Muslims in Xinjiang.[18] The U.S. State Department sees the Turkistan Islamic Party as a terrorist organization and a separate group from the ETIM. "Uyghur terrorists fighting in Syria and Afghanistan are members of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP)," the State Department spokesperson said to Newsweek, "a separate organization that China and others have incorrectly identified as ETIM."[19] ETIM has been described by scholars as demanding total independence and supporting or being indifferent to more radical methods driven by religious and ethnic motives.[20][21]
Influenced by the success of the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War, the ETIP (later become known as TIP in 2001) was established in September 1997 by Hasan Mahsum in Pakistan. After 11 September 2001, the Chinese regime strove to include its repression of Uyghur opposition within the international dynamic of the struggle against Islamic terrorist networks.[22] Their slogans contained anti-Communist rhetoric and calls for uniting Turks, indicating a movement akin to Islamic pan-Turkism historically congruent with southern Xinjiang rather than pure, radical Salafi jihadism or religious extremism. The revolt lasted several days and was put down by the Chinese government, which deployed significant forces to suppress the insurrection. The Chinese government viewed them as a jihadist movement akin to the mujahideen in Afghanistan across the border which gave birth to more radical movements such as the Party of Allah and the Islamic Movement of East Turkistan.[22]
The Syrian branch of the TIP is active in the Syrian civil war and are largely grouped in Idlib.[23][15]
- ^ "Turkestan Islamic Party emir thought killed in 2010 reemerged to lead group in 2014". The Long War Journal. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ "TIP Leader Congratulates Attack in Hotan in Video". SITE Intel Group. 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ MacLean, William (23 November 2013). "Islamist group calls Tiananmen attack 'jihadi operation': SITE". Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ Weiss, Caleb. "Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria shows more 'little jihadists'". Long War Journal. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ a b Moubayed, Sami (29 September 2015). Under the Black Flag: At the Frontier of the New Jihad. I.B.Tauris. pp. 161–. ISBN 978-0-85772-921-7. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ Zenn, Jacob. "An Overview of Chinese Fighters and Anti-Chinese Militant Groups in Syria and Iraq". Jamestown. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Bennett-Jones, Owen (8 March 2017). "North Waziristan: What happened after militants lost the battle?". BBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Sarwar, Mustafa (14 February 2018). "Taliban Increasing Presence In Remote Afghan Region Bordering China". Rfe/Rl. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "TIP Division in Syria Releases Video Promoting Cause, Inciting for Jihad". SITE Institute. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ O'Connor, Tom (11 September 2021). "Islamic Terrorists or Chinese Dissidents? U.S. Grapples with Uyghur Dilemma". Newsweek. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "S/2022/419". United Nations Security Council. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ "Turkistan Islamic Party leader criticizes the Islamic State's 'illegitimate' caliphate | FDD's Long War Journal". Longwarjournal.org. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "Beijing, Kunming, Urumqi and Guangzhou: The Changing Landscape of Anti-Chinese Jihadists". Jamestown. Jamestown Foundation. 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ "Afghanistan becomes again terrorist haven". 16 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Chinese jihadis' rise in Syria raises concerns at home". Associated Press. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Syrian rebels pour men and missiles into frontlines". The Fiscal Times. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Turkistan Islamic Party leader criticizes the Islamic State's 'illegitimate' caliphate".
- ^ O'Connor, Tom (11 September 2021). "Islamic Terrorists or Chinese Dissidents? U.S. Grapples with Uyghur Dilemma". Newsweek. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ O'Connor, Tom (21 September 2021). "Islamic Terrorists or Chinese Dissidents? U.S. Grapples with Uyghur Dilemma". Newsweek. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ Özkan, Güner (2023), "The Uyghur Movement in Exile", in Shei, Chris; Chen, Jie (eds.), Routledge Resources Online – Chinese Studies, Routledge, doi:10.4324/9780367565152-RECHS60-1
- ^ Reed, J. Todd; Raschke, Diana (2010). "The Contemporary and Historical Contexts of Uyghur Separatism". The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780313365416.
- ^ a b Castets, Rémi (1 October 2003). "The Uyghurs in Xinjiang – The Malaise Grows. After September 11th 2001, the Chinese regime strove to include its repression of Uyghur opposition within the international dynamic of the struggle against Islamic terrorist networks". China Perspectives (in French). 2003 (49). doi:10.4000/chinaperspectives.648. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ Clarke, Colin P.; Kan, Paul Rexton (1 November 2017). "Uighur Foreign Fighters: An Underexamined Jihadist Challenge". JSTOR. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
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