Aziz Isa Elkun

Aziz Isa Elkun presents on Uyghur Poetry & Cultural Erasure – London Book Fair 2024
On the final day of the London Book Fair 2024, I had the privilege of participating in two enlightening events as a speaker.

The first event, “A Trinity of Freedoms at Risk: Expression, Publishing, and Reading,” held on the main stage of the London Book Fair 2024, provided a platform for insightful discussions organized in partnership with IPA, English PEN, PEN International, IFLA, EIBF, and IAF. I express my gratitude to the panelists whose deep expertise enriched our dialogue, and a special thanks to Claire Armitstead from the Guardian #theguardian for her role as Chairperson.

The second event, organized by English PEN and attended alongside Dr. Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/Pacific Region at PEN International, focused on “Uyghur Poetry and Cultural Erasure in the #Uyghur Homeland.” Together with Ross, we delved into the themes of my edited and translated anthology book “Uyghur Poems,” published by Everyman’s Library  Library under the Penguin imprint in November 2023.

Our conversation not only celebrated the rich tradition of #Uyghur poetry but also shed light on the atrocities faced by Uyghurs under the Chinese government’s repressive policies. I extend my appreciation to Ross Holder for his contributions contributions to the event and I am grateful to the English PEN for their invaluable support in organizing this event.

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by  Muhammad Khan On Apr 4, 2021

Core Middle East: Uyghur People: In The Concentration Camps They Carry Out Various Types Of Torture And Abuse

Aziz Isa Elkun, is an academic at SOAS University of London who has lived in the UK for the past 20 years. Members of his family are victims of Chinese atrocities including his sister who was held in an internment camp for more than a year. He lives in exile in North London.

According to recent reports, Uyghur Muslims in China are being forced to denounce their faith, while China has destroyed 70 percent of mosques in the Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Uyghurs prefer to call their land ‘Uyghuristan.’

Since 2015, it has been estimated that as many as three million Uighurs have been detained in so called ‘re-education camps’. These are basically internment camps where mainly Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are brainwashed and indoctrinated in Communist ideology.

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Coremiddleeast On Oct 9, 2021

The shocking and sickening news of Uyghur Muslims are making rounds since 2017 but it hardly garners the attention of the mainstream media which it deserves. And as more and more incidents of mass murder, brutal tortures, rapes, and solitary confinements surface, one can only imagine the actual horrors faced by the Turkic origin Uyghur Muslims who are not only ignored and tacitly used by the US as a propaganda tool but are also being deliberately overlooked by the Muslim world. 

Today, we’d try to find out from a victim of genocide himself, the persecution he and many like him deal with on a daily basis. We will try to shed more light on the political and social impact, this ethnic cleansing has, on our ever-changing world.

As an Uyghur in exile, advocating for his own people and trying to keep their identity alive, the journey of Aziz Isa Elkun from being a political refugee to an academic and human rights defender came at a heavy price.

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