Elihan Tore (
Uyghur: ئەلىخان تۆرە; ; 21 March 1884 – 28 February 1976) was the 1st president of the
Second East Turkestan Republic
The East Turkestan Republic (ETR) was a short-lived satellite state of the Soviet Union in northwest Xinjiang (East Turkestan), between November 12, 1944, and December 22, 1949. To differentiate it from the First East Turkestan Republic (1933 ...
. He was born in
Tokmok, formerly known as
Balasagun,
Kyrgyzstan and in 1920 he escaped from the
Soviet Union to
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
in
East Turkestan. In April 1944, Elihan Tore along with
Abdulkerim Abbas,
Xabib Yunich and nine others formed a liberation organization in
Ghulja (Yining) to free East Turkestan of
Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chin ...
rule.
[(Chinese]
动荡之源：新疆三区革命的国际背景 《西域研究》 2013 No. 3
10 January 2014 On 11 November 1944, they launched the
Ili Rebellion
The Ili Rebellion () (Üch Wiläyt inqilawi) was a Uyghur separatist movement backed by the Soviet Union against the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China in 1944. After the start of the rebellion, the rebels established the Provision ...
with the support of the Soviet Union.
Biography
Elihan Tore was elected as President of the
Eastern Turkestan Republic (ETR) next day after victory of Revolt in
Ghulja city on 12 November 1944. He had a military rank of
Marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
of
Ili National Army
The East Turkistan National Army, also known as the Ili National Army (), was the army of the East Turkestan Republic (ETR) that originally consisted of six regiments: the Suidun Infantry Regiment, the Ghulja Regiment, the Kensai Regiment, the ...
, formed on 8 April 1945.
Elihan Tore was the only person in the ETR leadership who opposed
Joseph Stalin's order to terminate offensive of Ili National Army on
Urumchi and start negotiations with
Kuomintang in October 1945.
On 16 June 1946, six days after signing in Urumchi of the "Peace Agreement" between representatives of Eastern Turkestan Republic and Kuomintang, that concluded the difficult eight months negotiations being started on 14 October 1945 under Soviets mediation with accordance of the offer of
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
to peacefully resolve the Sinkiang crisis, he was forcibly brought back to the
USSR by the
KGB and confined here. The rest of his life he spent under house arrest in
Tashkent, where he wrote a book ''Türkistan kaygısı'' (Turkistan Tragedy) about
Xinjiang.
Works
* ''Türkistan kaygısı'', Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, East Publishing House, 2003
* ''Tarihiy Muhammadiy'', Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, Publisher: Kutlukkhan Shakirov
* Drifter Saghuniy
External links
''Alikhan Tura and the Uyghur People''
* .
''Elihan Tore in issue 1 of the Islamic Turkistan''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tore, Elihan
Chinese Muslims
East Turkestan independence activists
1884 births
1976 deaths
Uyghur activists
Uzbeks