United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan

Uyghur separatist group

The United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan (Chinese: 東突厥斯坦聯合革命陣線; URFET) was a Uyghur nationalist group in Xinjiang that participated in the Xinjiang conflict as an armed separatist force. It was led by Yusupbek Mukhlisi, who operated in-exile with other former URFET members in Almaty, Kazakhstan.^[1]

The group was allegedly supported logistically by the Soviet Union until 1989.^[2] In September 2001, the URFET merged with the Uyghur Liberation Organisation (ULO) and became the Uyghurstan People's Party.^[3]

References

1. "Riots sparked off by public executions, says leader of exiles". The Irish Times. 12 February 1997.
2. The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat - J. Todd Reed, Diana Raschke, p. 37.
3. Reed, J. Todd; Raschke, Diana (2010). The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat. ABC-CLIO. p. 36. ISBN 9780313365409. Retrieved 28 May 2018.