Kazakhstan's Uighurs hold peaceful protest
10:38, 20 July 2009
ALMATY. July 20. KAZINFORM About 8,000 Uighurs demonstrated peacefully in Kazakhstan today to support their ethnic brethren across the border in western China, Interfax reported from Almaty, the Central Asian republic's largest city, Kazinform cites Lucian Kim, Bloomberg.
Akhmetzhan Shardinov, leader of Kazakhstan's Uighur community, called on China to carry out an "objective investigation" into the ethnic violence that erupted in Xinjiang province this month, the news agency reported.
The demonstration, which was permitted by local authorities, was moved from a city park to the Palace of the Republic at the last minute to avoid "possible provocations," Interfax said, citing Shardinov.
Ethnic Uighurs, who primarily live in Xinjiang, also have communities in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. They are linked to ethnic groups such as the Kazakhs and Uzbeks by language, religion and tradition.
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