The East Turkestan People's Revolutionary Party ( uy, Shärqiy Turkistan Khälq Inqilawi Partiyisi; ) was a Uyghur

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

and armed

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

group in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...

. It was founded in 1969 or earlierJames Millward, ''Violent Separatism in Xinjiang: A Critical Assessment, Policy Studies'', East-West Center Washington, 2004. during

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, and was the largest armed separatist group in the

Xinjiang conflict The Xinjiang conflict ( zh, c=新疆冲突), also known as the East Turkistan conflict, Uyghur–Chinese conflict or Sino-East Turkistan conflict (as argued by the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile), is an ongoing ethnic geopolitical conf ...

before its dissolution in 1989.David D. Wang, ''East Turkestan Movement in Xinjiang'', Journal of Chinese Political Science, Springer Netherlands, June 1998. The ETPRP's goal was to initiate a second " Revolution of the Three Districts" to establish an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

Marxist–Leninist Uyghur state in the Xinjiang region, with help from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Support from the Soviets increased during the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...

and subsequent border dispute.

History

The ETPRP was founded in 1969 or earlier in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It was made up of mainly

Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia, Cent ...

, but also had a small number of Kazakh fighters.Rémi Castets
Opposition politique, nationalisme et islam chez les Ouïghours du Xinjiang
Les Études du CERI, October 2004. According to Chinese

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Zhang Yuxi, the ETPRP may have been established secretly in 1963. Former members of the ETPRP claimed that the party had around 60,000 members and 178 underground branches in 1969; however, this had not been verified by a third-party. After a failed

insurrection Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

in 1969, the ETPRP gradually weakened due to the arrests of most of their armed fighters after a failed insurrection and many of their members going into exile. The ETPRP blamed the Soviets for their "lack of commitment" to their cause. The party disbanded in 1989.

References

1969 establishments in China 1989 disestablishments in China Banned communist parties Banned political parties in China China–Soviet Union relations Communist parties in China Defunct communist militant groups Defunct communist parties East Turkestan independence movement Indigenist political parties National liberation armies Political parties disestablished in 1989 Political parties established in 1969 Pro-independence parties {{Communist-party-stub