Aziz Isa Elkun

Aziz Isa Elkun
Research affiliate, SOAS, University of London

The Chinese government said this was done in order to modernize us, but their true aim was to destroy Uyghur ethnic, cultural and religious identities. I felt as if my father’s body had been brutally torn out of its resting place in our ancestors’ land.

Over the past century, countries have used the tool of nationalism to pursue their own interests. Nationalism is about people, land and the relationship between them. Nationalist propaganda creates a special relationship between a unique people and a particular territory.

The Uyghurs are one of the many peoples who have been left out of this tidy calculation. We are labelled as an “ethnic minority” that suits Chinese version of statehood. China’s policies aim to cut our ties to our land. Uyghur pilgrims are cut off from their places of worship; villages are uprooted from their fields, and families are torn apart. Islam and Uyghur culture are none separated identities of the Uyghurs, therefor they regard the burial place – gravy yard as a holy place that connects the sprits of the generation past and today. Plus, Uyghur graveyard is a symbol of belonging to each other in the Uyghur community that keep connects Uyghurs spiritually, culturally and politically.

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Aziz Isa Elkun
Research affiliate, SOAS, University of London
ai18@soas.ac.uk  |  www.azizisa.org/en

After my recent interview with CNN about the destruction of my father’s tomb, Chinese Global Times and China Global Television Network specifically responded spreading fault information about the destruction of my father’s tomb by forcing my 78 years old mother to give an interview. The GT and CGTN claim that they respect Uyghur and other Muslim nationalities graveyards and burial traditions in East Turkistan (Xinjiang), but the claims made about me in the article are not correct.

They said: “Aziz Isa Elkun claimed he could not find his father’s grave, which was located in Xayar county in Aksu Prefecture, from a satellite image on Google. However, instead of checking with his family in Xinjiang, the Uygur poet opted to tell the media of his discovery.”

Let me clarify this:

My father worked for 40 years as a medical doctor for Shayar County, Toyboldi town hospital. He died on 4th November 2017. I heard about his death four days later through a friend. Soon before the end of 2017, all my telephone communication with my mother was cut off. I had no news about my mother and other relatives from our village for more than two years, when I learned from friends living outside the region that my mother was alive and that my sister had been detained in an interment camp for more than a year and a half. I still have no news of my other relatives. Thanks to this Global Times TV Network report I have now heard my mother’s voice for the first time since February 2017.

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Aziz Isa Elkun is a Uyghur author, poet, writer, and academic. He was born in Uyghuristan (East Turkistan) and grew up in Shahyar County, near the Tarim River on the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, where he completed his primary and secondary education. From 1988 to 1991, he studied Russian and Chinese languages at Xinjiang University in Urumqi. Shortly after graduating, he was persecuted by Chinese authorities due to his political activities during his high school and university years.

In 1999, he fled East Turkistan and in August 2001, resettled in the United Kingdom. Since then, he has pursued further studies and continues to live in the UK with his family. In 2009, he graduated from Birkbeck, University of London, with a degree in Web Development and Multimedia. 

Elkun is an active member of the exiled Uyghur community and the founder of the Uyghur music group London Uyghur Ensemble, established in 2006. Since 2014, he has been involved in various research projects on Uyghur culture at SOAS University of London. Since September 2023, he is working as a Researcher on a project funded by UK Research and Innovation, “Maqam Beyond Nation,” based at SOAS, University of London. 

From April 2025, he has been serving as President of the Uyghur PEN Centre. He is also a member of English PEN.

Published books:

• “Uyghur Poems” Anthology
  Edited and translated by Aziz Isa Elkun (with some contributions from other translators), this anthology was published by Everyman’s Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in November 2023. It introduces English-speaking audiences to the rich literary heritage of the Uyghurs, spanning 2,000 years of oral and written traditions.
  https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457502/uyghur-poems-by-authors-various/9781841598307
  
  First Anthology of Uyghur Poetry in English. 1. Poets Sing of a Fight for Freedom
  First Anthology of Uyghur Poetry in English. 2. The Time of Tragedy

• “Çimenkuş“ (A Flower Bird) Elkun’s debut poetry collection, Çımenkuş, translated from Uyghur to Turkish by Amina Wayit Sedef, was published by Önce Kitap Publishers in Türkiye in September 2024. https://www.astanayayinlari.com/cimenkus-aziz-isa-elkun-siir-kitabi-2024

• “Donay Deryasidin Orxun Boylirighiche” (The Journey From Danube River to the Orkhun Valley) in the Uyghur language. Published in 2012 in Türkiye, this book explores the promotion of democracy and freedom of expression among Uyghurs in Uyghuristan and in exile. https://elkitab.org/donay_deryasidin_orxun_boylirighiche/

Selected Articles and Contributions:

• Co-authored English language articles with Rachel Harris, in Inner Asia and Central Asian Survey (‘Invitation to a Mourning Ceremony’: Perspectives on the Uyghur Internet and ‘Islam by Smartphone: the changing sounds of Uyghur religiosity’) and ‘Islam by smartphone: reading the Uyghur Islamic revival on WeChat’, Central Asian Survey 38(1), 2019, 61-80; 
  
  Contributed a chapter on “Music, Terror, and Civilizing Projects in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” to The Routledge Companion to Music and Human Rights.
  
• Co-authored a report titled “The Complicity of Heritage: Cultural Heritage and Genocide in the Uyghur Region” published by the Uyghur Human Rights Project in February 2023.

Some Research articles and Opinion pieces that reflect the ongoing China’s Uyghur Genocide were published on various websites, newspapers, and magazines:

• China’s Uyghur Genocide: A Historical Perspective (The Muslim Vibe, July 2021) 
• The world must act on China’s Uyghur genocide (Brussels Morning, May 2021)
• Die heutige Repression der Uiguren hat historische Vorläufer (German “Islamic Newspaper” 2021)
• Poem: Roses (published by Los Angeles Review of Books January 2022)
• A Uyghur Poet Reminds Us that Uyghurs Are Seeking Justice from the World (Bitter Winter 2022)
• Uyghurs Bravely Resist Oppression Through Poetry (Bitter Winter, March 2024) 

Documentary Film:

In early 2019, he produced a short documentary film, “An Unanswered Telephone Call”, depicting the ongoing sufferings of his family after China pursued a total blockade of international telephone calls between Uyghurs at home and abroad since 2017. You can also watch this documentary film from Elkun YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV5DhIq44A-qJMzLkpQ_Vig

Aziz Isa Elkun continues to be a vital voice for the Uyghur community, using his literary and academic work to promote awareness of Uyghur culture, history, and the ongoing human rights struggles faced by his people. You can read poetry, academic and other literary works from his personal blog: www.azizisa.org/en

Read Aziz Isa Elkun’s full biography in Uyghur: 
www.azizisa.org/mehnetlik_otken_hayat_elkun_heqqide