A new leadership team was elected at the 8th General Assembly of the World Uyghur Congress. Turghunjan Alawudun was elected as president, Zümretay Erkin, Erkin Ehmedov and Abdureşit Abdulhamit as vice-presidents, and Ruşan Abbas as chair of the executive committee.
The 8th General Assembly of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), set to continue for 4 days, started on October 24, 2024 in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The general assembly brought together around 176 Uyghur delegates from 27 countries, including Turkey.
Following the current leadership’s three-year report at the plenary session, the election of the new leadership took place on October 26. German citizen Turghunjan Alawudun was elected as the new president of the organization.
PRESIDENT OF THE WOC: TURGHUNJAN ALAWUDUN
Alavudun, 58, has been a member of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) for years, serving as one of the four vice-chairs of the organization’s executive committee.
Upon his election as chairman, Alavudun told RFA that he aims to make the organization “more advanced and more democratic.” “This task must be fulfilled properly and meticulously. This task is extremely important in our struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights, as well as in the struggle for the liberation of our homeland,” he sad.
Along with electing a new president, Zumretay Erkin, Erkin Ehmedov and Abdureşit Abdulhamit were elected as vice-presidents. Rushan Abbas was elected as chair of the executive committee, with Abdulhamit Karahan, Erkin Zunun, Mutellip Kurban and Polat Sayımlar as the deputy chairmen of the executive committee. Additionally, 16 commission chairs were elected at the general assembly.
VICE PRESIDENT ZUMRETAY ERKIN
Zumretay Erkin, a 30-year-old leader who has been active in the organization for years, has been elected Vice President of the World Uyghur Congress. “I am thrilled to announce that I have been elected as the new Vice President of the World Uyghur Congress, an org that I’ve dedicated the last five years of my life working for. As the first young female Vice President of the WUC, I am proud and honoured by to serve my nation,” Erkin said after her election.
Erkin also emphasized that the voices of women, especially young women, need to be “heard” in politics and at all levels of society.
CHAIR OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE RUŞAN ABBAS
Long-time activist, 57-year-old Rushan Abbas, director of the Uyghur Movement, a Washington DC-based advocacy group, has been elected to chair of the executive committee of the WUC.
In a post on social media platform X, Abbas said she was honored to have been elected to the position, “a responsibility I embrace with a profound duty to serve our people. Our journey has faced immense suffering and unprecedented challenges that the world has yet to fully confront. The fact that the Uyghur diaspora stood firm and held this election despite death threats and intimidation speaks to the extraordinary courage and resilience of the World Uyghur Congress and our people—and shows that the Chinese regime fears us most when we are united. As we move forward, I commit to taking bold, concrete actions to amplify our voices and build a united movement that cannot be ignored. Together, we will forge a future where every Uyghur can live in freedom, dignity, and lasting peace.“
“THE ELECTIONS WERE A SUCCESS”
Enver Can, one of the original founders of the congress and founding chairman of the Ilham Tohti Initiative, made a statement to Uyghur News about the new leadership of the congress, stating that the general assembly was “successfully concluded.”
Can said, “I congratulate the successful conclusion of the 8th General Assembly of the WUC and wish it to be beneficial to our people and our national cause. I would like to congratulate the newly elected leaders of the WUC, including President Turghunjan Alawudun, Vice President Zumretay Erkin and Chair of Executive Committee Ruşen Abbas. As one of the original founders of the WUC, I express my readiness to provide all kinds of support for this umbrella organization to represent our people in the diaspora on the basis of democratic principles, to be transparent, accountable and embracing, and to be even more successful, in accordance with the purpose of its establishment.”
The World Uyghur Congress was established in 2004 with the merger of the Former East Turkistan (Uyghuristan) National Congress and the World Uyghur Youth Congress under the chairmanship of Enver Can.
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