Press Release– For immediate release
23 September 2020
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The WUC congratulates Uyghur lawyer, rights advocate, and a Commissioner in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom for being named to TIME’s annual TIME100 List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. This well-deserved honor recognizes the important work that Nury Turkel has been undertaking to draw attention to the Uyghur crisis and push for action to address the crisis. 

Since late 2016, the Chinese Communist Party has subjected Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims to genocidal policies. The Uyghur people have been detained by the millions in the modern-day concentration camps, subjected to modern slavery, forced sterilization, sexual against Uyghur women, separation of Uyghur children from their parents, destruction of Uyghur mosques, shrines, and graveyards, pervasive and intrusive surveillance of the Uyghurs in society and private homes. China has built and operated industrial-scale concentration camps the world has not seen since the Holocaust. 

Uyghurs living in the diaspora have also been suffering incredibly, forced to witness their friends and families disappear or be arbitrarily detained and see their culture, history, and Uyghur identity be undermined and eroded. The Chinese government has threatened those who have spoken up and imprisoned their family members still living in East Turkistan.

Despite the horrific realities of the situation and incredible pressure on the Uyghur community, the Uyghur diaspora has been striving to bring an end to the Uyghur crisis and protect their basic rights and freedoms. Nury has been a tireless and principled advocate for the Uyghur cause in the face of much adversity. 

As a U.S.-educated attorney, Nury has worked tirelessly to build the Uyghur human-rights movement, representing hundreds of Uyghur political refugees to win asylum in the U.S., and bringing the plight of our people to the world’s attention. Due to his excellent work, he was appointed as the first Uyghur American to serve on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, by Nancy Pelosi in May, helping to shape U.S. and global policy responses to the crisis. Nury is a leader on the global stage, fighting for universal human dignity, and helps keep hope alive for the Uyghur people.

“The WUC, the wider Uyghur community and myself as a friend, we are proud of Nury for being named to the 2020 TIME100 that will help to shine a spotlight on the atrocities that China has committed against the Uyghur people, wrote WUC President Dolkun Isa in his tribute to Nury Turkel. “It is a testament to his important work to address the Uyghur crisis and to the attention and importance that TIME and the international community have placed on the ongoing Uyghur genocide.” 

We hope that Nury being a TIME100 honoree will further amplify his message, to stop the Uyghur genocide and to have the voice of the Uyghur people be heard.

The full list and related tributes appear in the October 5, 2020 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, September 25, and now at time.com/time100. 

The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation, and achievement of the world¹s most influential individuals. 

Follow @TIME for updates about the list on Twitter and Instagram and at Facebook.com/TIME.

#TIME100