A testimony from our “100 Camp Testimonies” Book
I am originally from Aksu Prefecture, East Turkistan. After getting married, I came to Turkey in 2015, and I have been living in Turkey ever since.
I have in the past testified for my mother Ayturem Hudesh, my elder brother Murtiza Memet, and my younger brother Mehmut Memet on social media, but my testimonies were limited because I could not be able to contact my family at all. However, at the beginning of June 2020, I was able to contact them again, and I obtained more information about my elder brother and younger brother.
Ayturem Khudash, my mother, was born in 1972, who used to run a small grocery store. After I gave birth to my son, my parents came to Turkey to visit me in mid-October 2016, who stayed in Turkey for about 16 days. Upon their return to East Turkistan, my parents’ passports were confiscated. We had been in contact with each other until June 10, 2017, after which my whole family suddenly cut off all contact with me. I kept calling them, but no one answered. I also sent them messages on WeChat, but I found out that they defriended me. I tried to add them, but they did not accept my friend requests.
In mid-April 2017, my mother was sent to an internment camp, the reasons for which were as follows: My mother had been to Turkey; she is a practicing Muslim (i.e., she prays, and fasts during Ramadan) and dresses modestly; she usually wore a long dress and a headscarf.
My mother had been running a small grocery store in the market to support our family. When my mother received the “reeducation” (internment) notice, she pleaded with the village cadre, “I have two daughters who are still studying, and if I closed my store, who would support them? Please don’t send me to the reeducation center (internment camp), and I am willing to be reeducated outside the center.” The secretary Qeyim Qadir replied, “Spare me all the talk. You visited Turkey because you had so much money to spend.” My mother told me this unpleasant exchange of words.
I witnessed similar episodes several times before I came to Turkey that encroached upon my mother’s liberty. Once such episode was about my mother’s modest apparel. The village cadres forced my mother to hand over her long dresses. Every time when the village cadres held a public meeting, they would deliberately criticize my mother and those who wore long dresses. They also made the innocent women write letters of self-criticism, a way to teach the community a lesson. The women in turn had to read those letters aloud in nearby villages in front of a crowd. The cadres also forced them to write poems that praised the Chinese Communist Party as if the abovementioned punishments were not enough. These encroachments upon people’s liberty occurred many times.
My mother was coerced into handing over most of her long clothes to the local officials, and she also burned some of her clothes, but she still could not avoid internment. In short, my mother had been held in an internment camp for about a year.
I learned that during her internment, my mother’s long hair had been forcibly cut. She did not even have a right to grow long hair. Ever since I was a kid, my mother had always had long hair. She never cut her hair as she always loved her long hair.
When my mother was held in an internment camp, my elder sister Aynezer Memet was in high school, who lived in a school dormitory and would return home once a week. My younger sister Ayzohre Memet was only in second grade (elementary school). My father would go to work in the morning and come back in the evening, and my mother would look after Ayzohre. When my mother was interned, I had no idea who looked after my little sister.
When I could not contact my family, I reached out to Memet Yusup, the police officer in charge of our village, but he did not give me any information; moreover, he defriended me on WeChat. I also called Turdi Tohti multiple times, the senior civil servant (CCP secretary) of our local government, who did not answer. I then sent a message to Abduweli on WeChat, a national security officer who had tried to make me do intelligence gathering work. Allow me to give you an account of what he tried to make me do.
Several national security officers paid us a visit at our home in Aksu in Spring 2015 after they had heard that I had gotten my marriage certificate (I married a Turkish national). At the time, a Han Chinese officer and an Uyghur officer named Abduweli added me on WeChat, and they asked me to keep in touch with them. The Uyghur officer told me his name was Abduweli, but I doubt that it was his real name.
After I came to Turkey, the officer Abduweli texted me on WeChat, asking me if I had met other Uyghurs in Turkey. He asked me to report back to him if I learned anything about the Uyghurs. I always told him that I had not met any Uyghurs. After I lost contact with my family back in Aksu, I panicked and sent him a message asking about my family’s situation. He replied that my family were fine. He subsequently made several video calls on WeChat, showing me my family members. He considered that he did me a big favor by making those video calls showing me my family members. From time to time he would send me messages on WeChat, reminding me of the big favor. He then started inquiring about the Uyghurs in Turkey again, and asked me when I could start working for him; moreover, he wanted to recruit my husband.
One day, the officer Abduweli texted me again, telling me that my parents missed me a lot, and if I wanted to talk to my parents I would have to help him. He told me that he urgently needed to get a WhatsApp account by using a Turkish number, so he asked me to get him a Turkish phone number; he would return the favor and help me reach my family. I politely declined and told him that it was not something that I could do. He then asked for my husband’s help as he was born and raised in Turkey, so should be able to do it. My husband also refused to help him.
The officer Abduweli asked us help him many times. Knowing that my husband was a professional computer software engineer, Abduweli once even asked my husband to hack into some Turkish government database and provide him the detailed information on all the Uyghurs living in Turkey. He said he could also receive the information in person. My husband obviously refused to do it. Abduweli even acknowledged that what he asked us to do was dangerous and illegal, but it was not a very difficult task. He emphasized that it would help my family back in Aksu if we could help him.
About a year after her internment (first interned in mid-April 2017), my mother was released from an internment camp, during which time my elder brother Murtiza Memet was sent to an internment camp, i.e., around April or May 2018. He was born in 1991, a father of three, who used to run a barbershop. When my elder brother was interned, his eldest son was in elementary school and his daughters were in kindergarten. I did not know the reason for my brother’s internment, who detained him, or where he was taken to. However, in June 2020, I got more information about my elder brother for I could contact my family again. Prior to his internment, my brother was a practicing Muslim, i.e., he would pray; he also liked to work out (physical exercise). My mother told me that my brother Murtiza was sentenced to 16 years in prison (in Aksu) for praying and doing physical exercise, without legal proceedings, i.e., my brother had no access to a lawyer, nor was there a trial.
Mehmut Memet, my younger brother, was born in 1996, who was a professional barber, and has one child. My younger brother went missing shortly after my elder brother was arrested. My mother told me that my brother Mehmut was sentenced to 16 years in Tarim Reform Through Labor Prison Farms (塔里木劳改农场) for doing physical exercise and hanging out with some bad guys. Like my elder brother, he had no access to a lawyer, and was not given a trial.
I consoled my mother on the phone, and she said, “It’s not just us whose children are sentenced to so many years in prison with no legitimate reason or legal proceedings. Almost every household is going through the same thing. How do we deal with it? Everyone suffers from depression.”I told her that it was unjust and undeserved, and that I would report this injustice to various human rights organizations. My mother cried and said, “I already lost my two sons, and it is a blessing just to be able to hear your voice. Before you decide to speak out, think about your brother’s children and think about us; our whole family could suffer retaliation from the Chinese regime if you speak out.”
