Turkistan Times, 20 August 2026: At the 11th International Arabic Book Fair in Istanbul, East Turkistan organizations and media outlets highlighted the situation in East Turkistan, the preservation of Uyghur culture and identity, and the role of media in bringing the issue to international attention.
As Uyghur culture and language struggle to survive amid systematic repression, policies aimed at erasing identity, and assimilation efforts by the Chinese authorities in East Turkistan, cultural and media-focused events play a critical role in bringing this urgent crisis to the attention of the international community. In this context, the 11th International Arabic Book Fair, currently being held in Istanbul’s Yenikapı district and set to continue through August 23, has become an important platform for conveying the situation in East Turkistan and the voices of East Turkistanis to a global audience.
A series of notable events and meetings took place at the fair, which carries significant value for preserving awareness of East Turkistan’s reality and culture. According to information reported by the Nida news platform, on the evening of August 18, a discussion titled “The East Turkistan Issue Between Truth and Restricted Media” was organized under the leadership of İstiqlal TV, in cooperation with the East Turkistan Union of Scholars, the Uyghur Science and Civilization Research Foundation, the East Turkistan Human Rights Monitoring Association, and the Turkistani Library.
Speaking at the meeting, İstiqlal TV General Manager Abdulvaris Abdulhalik described the background to China’s policies in the region and human rights violations, stressing the vital importance of communicating the facts accurately. Kanal 9 Program Director Halid Şerif emphasized that the issue should be approached as a moral and religious responsibility and called on the Islamic world for support. İstiqlal TV Arabic Broadcast Coordinator Cevad Ebu Emir also highlighted the importance of bringing the realities of East Turkistan to international audiences through sound media strategies and multiple languages.
Efforts at the fair to preserve cultural heritage and sustain identity also continued without interruption. According to a report by Mehmet Kaşgarlı of Uygur Haber, East Turkistan Foundation President Prof. Dr. Abdulhamit Avşar and Vice President Mehmet Kaşgarlı visited the East Turkistan stand opened at the fair through cooperation between the Turkistani Library and İstiqlal TV. The delegation said that representing East Turkistan’s culture and publications at an international event was extremely valuable for the struggle to preserve identity.
The fact that not only East Turkistan organizations but also some Arab publishing houses displayed works about East Turkistan and the Uyghur Turks at their own stands indicates that awareness and visibility within the international publishing community regarding the cultural threat and developments in the region are gradually increasing.
