The Palestinian Arab Army’s fast fall in response to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s advance, which the UN Security Council has labeled a terrorist organization, has attracted international attention from their ranks.
The Tamils from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region rank first and foremost among those foreigners. They previously fought China as East Turkestan Islamic Movement members, but they later changed their names to Turkistan Islamic Party.
Regardless of what brand they go by, the organization has been active in Idlib since 2017 when information about its provinces in that region of Syria started to surface. The group has a history of working with criminal organizations like Al Qaeda to aid in the eviction of a Uyghur express from China. The UN Security Council designated it as a criminal organization for this reason. In later 2020, the United States removed its unique title for being dormant, blatantly indicating that the organization had fallen into hibernation, but it is now known that this was untrue.
A movie released by members of the organization urging violent jihad against China recently emerged from Syria. Under the heading” China has cause to be terrified of rebel-run Syria,” Yang Xiaotong wrote a thorough Asia Times article on the subject. The Turkistan Islamic Party is recruiting people from Central Asia, and it could restore itself in Afghanistan by attacking the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, two of the most crucial factors.
The hall is considered to be the Belt and Road Initiative’s lineup project, and for years it’s been the target of attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army, which Pakistan, China and even the US have designated as a criminal business. Since the Afghan Taliban reclaimed Afghanistan and provided refuge to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the BLA has increased its problems.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Balochistan Liberation Army are now viewed as casual friends. Both parties want to obliterate Muslim soil: the TTP wants to establish a radical Islamist dictatorship, while the BLA wants to cut out an independent Balochistan.
Some people also believe that the Afghan Taliban would demand the cession of Pakistan’s Pashtun-majority Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ( previously known as the Northwest Frontier Province ) as retribution for their contributions to the TTP’s rise to power because the Afghan Taliban do not recognize the Durand Line.
Because the Afghan Taliban have good relations with China, they might not be interested in having the Turkistan Islamic Party there. The problem, though, is that the Afghan Taliban don’t have total power over their territory– while is proven by the continued presence of ISIS-K cells it. Additionally, they recently hosted the Turkistan Islamic Party in accordance with the tenet of offering shelter to all like-minded Muslim organizations with the condition that they don’t endanger others.
Thus, it’s possible that the Afghan Taliban and the Turkistan Islamic Party can form again in Afghanistan. From that, it may launch an attack on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, just as the half Afghan-based Balochistan Liberation Army has been doing.
It is possible that the Turkistan Islamic Party may strategically desire to beat China’s sweet spot in order to increase the organization’s profile, while the Balochistan Liberation Army attacks the corridor for ultra-nationalist reasons, asserting that the megaproject is exploiting the local Baloch by privying them of the riches derived from the region’s natural resource wealth.
For unscrupulous motivation may also have some application in Central Asia, aside from attacking Pakistani-based Belt and Road tasks. From that, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham even has sourced some of its international fighters– especially Uzbeks, who are the country’s most popular people.
The Turkistan Islamist Party was recruit recruits from Uyghur communities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, whether they carry out attacks on Belt and Road projects in Pakistan, border crossings in Xinjiang, education in Afghanistan or Syria, or both.
These plausible scenarios raise questions about Turkiye’s indirect sponsorship of the party as a result of Ankara’s covert acceptance of the Turkistan Islamists ‘ alliance with the Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( commonly abbreviated HTS), the group that recently conquered Syria.
Although Turkiye considers itself to be the leader of the Organization of Turkish States, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, its citizens, particularly Uzbeks, have now received HTS education and gained related field expertise in Syria under HTS control. When Turkiye allowed some of its citizens to become potential terrorist threats without raising a finger to stop them, it will be difficult for the country to demonstrate itself as a trustworthy partner for those countries.
The role of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency is another thing to keep in mind. GUR was implicated in HTS’s offensive in Syria, according to The Washington Post. So it isn’t surprising that Kyiv backs HTS because it had previously supported Tuareg militants in Mali against the allegedly Wagner-backed Rapid Support Forces in Sudan. Nevertheless, the contemporary GUR is also a CIA project, as the Washington Post reported in late 2023.  ,
Thus, it is possible that the CIA will use GUR as a blatantly unfeigned proxy to control or at least encourage the Turkistan Islamist Party’s expansion in the geostrategic Central Asian region between Russia and China. Even if Turkiye opposes it, it might happen. By demilitarizing and demobilizing its armed formations, Ankara could preemptively defuse that scenario by using its influence over HTS to oust the Turkistan Islamist Party inside Syria. Uyghurs who are deported to China may also be deported.
Of course, that would require tremendous political will, which Turkiye might not have at present. Recep Tayyip Erodgan, president, has previously defended himself as a champion of the Uyghurs ‘ political cause, but he has since toned down such rhetoric out of pragmatism to strengthen ties with China. Thus, he might face accusations of betrayal from his domestic base, as well as from those who support his Islamist-driven foreign policy abroad.
If he doesn’t take decisive action right away, even if only to the extent that he won’t allow other Uyghurs, Central Asians, or Chechens to train there via Turkiye for training with that organization or HTS, he might find himself with a serious issue on his hands that could harm his foreign policy. After all, those people traveled to Syria with the covert support of his country for training and battlefield experience, so Erdogan is ultimately held responsible for any attacks they might carry out in the future.
Pakistan is one of Turkiye’s close partners. Therefore, it will be incredibly scandalous if Syrian-based Uyghurs eventually travel to Afghanistan to engage in a hybrid war against China and Pakistan, which is also thought to be Pakistan’s economic development’s foundation.
The question is whether the Turkistan Islamists do it on their own or in concert with the CIA-sponsored GUR, since Turkiye will still be held accountable for a portion of it. Russia, China, the Central Asian republics, and Pakistan are therefore watching very closely to see what Erdogan will do.