Uyghur and Tibetan leaders meet in Boston to discuss joint strategies against Chinese repression, reaffirming Uyghur–Tibetan solidarity in the fight for freedom and human rights.
On August 13 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, during a series of important engagements, Chairwoman of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) Executive Committee and Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs, Rushan Abbas, met with long-time ally, former President (First Sikyong) of the Central Tibetan Administration and political successor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Lobsang Sangay.
The two discussed strategies to confront Chinese repression and to defend human rights. Abbas stated, “We remain united in the fight for freedom and justice for all oppressed peoples.”
Senior Uyghur activist and founder president of the Ilham Tohti Initiative, Enver Can welcomed the meeting, calling it “an important first step to further deepen existing solidarity and cooperation.” He noted that Uyghurs and Tibetans have long enjoyed friendly historical, cultural, and political relations, and that today both peoples face the same destiny under Chinese occupation.
Can recalled that the late Uyghur leader Isa Yusuf Alptekin met His Holiness the Dalai Lama many times in both India and Turkey, while his son, Erkin Alptekin, together with the late Lodi Gyari, established the “Alliance of Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchurian Peoples” (now inactive) and later the UNPO to strengthen cooperation.
Enver Can expressed his hope that this recent meeting will pave the way for further high-level talks and elevate existing cooperation to the level demanded by the shared destiny of their peoples.
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