Ghulam Osman Yaghma (; born 16 August 1956 in

Atush Artux, Artush ( ug, ئاتۇش شەھىرى; ky, ارتىش, Артыш, Artysh), and officially rendered as Atuş ( zh, s=阿图什市, p=Ātúshí Shì),The official spelling according to is a county-level city and the capital of the Kyrgyz au ...

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 northwest ...

) is a Canadian Uyghur politician, independence leader, writer, and poet. He is currently the President of the

East Turkistan Government-in-Exile The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile ( also known as the Government in Exile of the Republic of East Turkistan; abbreviated ETGE) is a parliamentary-based government in exile, exile government established and headquartered in Washington, D.C ...

Early life

Ghulam Osman Yaghma was born in the city of

, Xinjiang. Upon finishing high school, he was barred from obtaining post-secondary education by the Chinese government due to his past participation in creating a independence organization "to liberate East Turkistan from Chinese occupation". He served as an instructor of modern Uyghur language, literature and estelistics.

Life in exile

Yaghma fled China to Kyrgyzstan on 30 April 1996, where he engaged in political activism and business. He later fled Central Asia to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in 1999 after he was not permitted to stay in Central Asia. In Turkey he appealed to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Turkey and after three years, in March 2002, Yaghma was given asylum in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Yaghma is fluent in Uyghur and Turkish, and proficient in English and Chinese. He is married and has 8 children, two of which are allegedly incarcerated in the

Xinjiang re-education camps The Xinjiang internment camps, officially called vocational education and training centers ( zh, 职业技能教育培训中心, Zhíyè jìnéng jiàoyù péixùn zhōngxīn) by the government of China, are internment camps operated by ...

. He resides in Edmonton, Canada.

East Turkistan Government in Exile

Ghulam Osman Yaghma was re-elected as the President of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile on 11 November 2019 at the government in exile's 8th General Assembly in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He had previously been elected president following the impeachment of the former president in a Special Parliamentary Session in Mugla, Turkey in October 2018. He is the third President of the

government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile us ...

since its formation in 2004. Starting in 2009, he had previously served as the Strategic Advisor to the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile. He was elected as the Deputy Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile at the 7th General Assembly held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 12 November to 15 November.

Literary works

Ghulam Osman Yaghma, using the pen name "G.O. Zulpiqar" has authored numerous non-fiction books, novels, articles, and poems. "Lost Treasure", "He Is Still in Battle", "Secret Love", "Dulled Sword", "Sound", "Sigh", "The road leads to heaven", "Infatuation" and "Reflection" are among the most read fiction novels written by him. Some of his numerous political orientated books include "Exploring on the Path of East Turkistan Liberation" (3 volumes), "Mirror", and "Tears of East Turkistan" among others. He plans on publishing new books: "Heroic Age" (Novel), "Mirage", "Foam", "Letters that Have Not Been Sent", along with three poetic books, and hundreds of video speech and lectures.

References

External links

Ghulam Osman Yaghma
on Twitter

(''

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editoriall ...

'', 2012; comments about Hui and Uyghur experiences in China) {{DEFAULTSORT:Yaghma, Ghulam Osman Canadian people of Uyghur descent East Turkestan independence activists Uyghur politicians 1956 births Living people