Kazakhs in Xinjiang caught between Beijing's repression and struggle for rights at home

The Atažurt association is establishing itself as a de facto opposition (and pro-rights) political force in the Asian country. And it is trying to transform itself into a party despite the opposition in Astana. The battle against Chinese government persecution in the Muslim-majority region. The search for economic support and the goal of defending all ethnic groups in the name of 'good nationalism'.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Atažurt association, founded in Kazakhstan to spread the news about the repression in China against the Turkic minorities in Xinjiang, had never had the intention of presenting itself as a political opposition force in the country.

At least until the Astana regime, an ally of Beijing, began to consider it as such. It has now decided to transform itself into a party, although its leaders complain that the authorities are trying to hinder this process.

It all started in 2017, when Gulžan Tokhtasyn asked a friend to look after her children for a week, while she went to China on urgent business. Shortly before, Beijing had sent a new local secretary of the communist party to Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, known as "the punisher", a supporter of the hard line against minorities first in Tibet and then against Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim minorities in the region.

Gulžan failed to return after a week, ending up in the vortex of mass arrests ordered by Quanguo, as she had not been able to obtain full citizenship of Kazakhstan.

Her friend also ended up in trouble, accused by the director of the Almaty school of looking after her children without official delegation. Together with other Kazakhs of Chinese origin they set up the Atažurt group to defend their rights and began to spread news about the persecutions in Xinjiang at home and abroad.

Tokhtasyn managed with difficulty to return to Kazakhstan, becoming one of the leading exponents of the association which attempted to register as a party with the Ministry of Justice already last May, but was refused. Now she herself confirms that she possesses "all the necessary conditions to actively participate in the political life of the country, without fear of her powerful neighbor".

The members of Atažurt had no intention of presenting themselves as opponents, but increasingly severe warnings began to come from the authorities, comparing the activists to other movements suppressed by the regime.

In recent years, persecutions against Uyghurs and Kazakhs from Xinjiang have become increasingly widespread and harsher, with many compatriots ending up in re-education camps, increasing Atažurt's popularity in Kazakh society.

As its members explain, "our attention was initially focused on China, but now we have understood that the Astana regime is complicit with the Chinese, and we cannot stand still and watch." Many Kazakhs who managed to leave Xinjiang remain passive and fearful of retaliation even at home, but the group supports them and encourages them to courageously give their testimony.

The association has elected as its head one of the most active leaders, Bekzat Maksutkhanul, who is trying to resubmit the party for registration under the name of Nagiz Atažurt, the “real Atažurt”.

All active members recorded a video with their personal story about the stories and motivations of this commitment. Some have been subjected to the attention of the police, who have imposed fines even just for appeals on Facebook, considered illegal without real motivation.

Now Atažurt members are also looking for financial support to meet the needs of political activity and the judicial defense of their cause. Maksutkhanul declares himself optimistic, and explains that "ours will be a party of nationalists, but of good nationalists: we want to defend the constitutional rights of all ethnic groups in Kazakhstan, obtaining a just society in which everyone lives on equal terms, we want to save Kazakhstan as a true nation.

" Only in this way will the country be able to develop a true democracy, and "then China will be forced to start a real dialogue with us".