World Uyghur Congress, 27 June 2017

The Steering Committee of the World Uyghur Congress held a special meeting on June 22, 2017 to discuss the decision of Ms. Rebiya Kadeer regarding WUC Vice-President Omer Kanat and Director of the Research Department, Dr. Erkin Ekrem, which led to an internal conflict within the WUC and also to discuss the proposal to hold an extraordinary General Assembly meeting and early elections.

As a result, the Steering Committee made the following decisions:

• The Steering Committee, with a unanimous vote, refutes Ms. Rebiya Kadeer’s decision on the removal of WUC Vice-President Omer Kanat and WUC Research Department Director, Dr. Erkin Ekrem, from their positions for attending an independently organized Uyghur meeting in Cyprus and Berlin.
• The Steering Committee accepts Ms. Rebiya Kadeer’s proposal to convene an extraordinary General Assembly meeting of the WUC to hold early elections.
• The General Secretariat  of the World Uyghur Congress,  is assigned with the duty of deciding a date and place to hold the extraordinary General Assembly meeting.
• Due to the ongoing conflict within the WUC, the Steering Committee decides to delay the Second East Turkestan Uyghur High-Rank Consultancy Conference which was scheduled to be held on July 21-23, 2017 in the Netherlands.