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this is a bad paraphrase, because that is a quote and the RFA article then mentions the "discrepancy between the group’s initial denials of Turkel’s harassment and its statement"; also mind your edit-warring
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[[File:Pompeo and Turkel cropped 50147793747 f6d8b8c827 o.jpg|left|thumb|US Secretary of State [[Michael Pompeo]] meets with Commissioner Turkel and Chinese dissidents (July 2020)]]
[[File:Pompeo and Turkel cropped 50147793747 f6d8b8c827 o.jpg|left|thumb|US Secretary of State [[Michael Pompeo]] meets with Commissioner Turkel and Chinese dissidents (July 2020)]]


In 2003, Turkel co-founded the [[Uyghur Human Rights Project]] (UHRP) and has served as its chairman of the board.<ref name="schor"/><ref name="uscirf"/><ref name="cpifc">{{cite web|url=https://www.citizenpowerforchina.org/cpifc-welcomes-the-appointment-of-mr-nury-turkel-to-uscirf/|title=CPIFC Welcomes the Appointment of Mr. Nury Turkel to USCIRF|date=27 May 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=[[Citizen Power Initiatives for China]]}}</ref>
In 2003, Mr.Turkel co-founded the [[Uyghur Human Rights Project]] (UHRP) and has served as its chairman of the board. Mr.Turkel reportedly resigned from his position as chair in May 2024.<ref name="schor" /><ref name="cpifc">{{cite web|url=https://www.citizenpowerforchina.org/cpifc-welcomes-the-appointment-of-mr-nury-turkel-to-uscirf/|title=CPIFC Welcomes the Appointment of Mr. Nury Turkel to USCIRF|date=27 May 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=[[Citizen Power Initiatives for China]]}}</ref>


Between 2004 and 2006, Turkel served as president of the [[Uyghur American Association]].<ref name="schor"/><ref name="geneva">{{cite web|url=https://www.genevasummit.org/?speaker=nury-turkel|title=Nury Turkel|website=[[Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy]]|access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://hrf.org/event_speakers_posts/nury-turkel/|title=Nury Turkel|website=[[Human Rights Foundation]]|access-date=21 July 2020|archive-date=21 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721054228/https://hrf.org/event_speakers_posts/nury-turkel/}}</ref>
Between 2004 and 2006, Mr.Turkel served as president of the [[Uyghur American Association]].<ref name="schor"/><ref name="geneva">{{cite web|url=https://www.genevasummit.org/?speaker=nury-turkel|title=Nury Turkel|website=[[Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy]]|access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://hrf.org/event_speakers_posts/nury-turkel/|title=Nury Turkel|website=[[Human Rights Foundation]]|access-date=21 July 2020|archive-date=21 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721054228/https://hrf.org/event_speakers_posts/nury-turkel/}}</ref>


In May 2020, Nury Turkel was appointed a commissioner on the [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] (USCIRF)<ref name="uscirf"/><ref name="denmark">{{cite web|url=https://dk.usembassy.gov/uyghur-american-fights-for-religious-freedom/|title=Once interned in China, Uyghur American fights for religious freedom|date=23 June 2020|access-date=20 July 2020|website=U.S. Embassy in Denmark|author=Leigh Hartman}}</ref><ref name="icft">{{cite web|url=https://savetibet.org/ict-welcomes-nury-turkels-appointment-to-us-religious-freedom-commission/|title=ICT welcomes Nury Turkel's appointment to US religious freedom commission|date=26 May 2020|access-date=20 July 2020|website=[[International Campaign for Tibet]]}}</ref><ref name="bloomberg">{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2020-06-28/balance-of-power-china-s-treatment-of-uyghurs-podcast|title=Balance of Power: China's Treatment of Uyghurs (Podcast)|date=29 June 2020|access-date=20 July 2020|website=[[Bloomberg News]]}}</ref> by then [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Nancy Pelosi]] who said of Turkel, "I am confident that he will continue to be a powerful voice for the Uyghur people and for the cause of justice around the world."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/52720|title=Pelosi Floor Speech in Support of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act|date=27 May 2020|access-date=22 July 2020|website=Speaker Nancy Pelosi U.S. House of Representatives|archive-date=22 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722092329/https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/52720}}</ref>
In May 2020, Nury Turkel was appointed a commissioner on the [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] (USCIRF) by then [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Nancy Pelosi]], who said of Nury Turkel, "I am confident that he will continue to be a powerful voice for the Uyghur people and for the cause of justice around the world."<ref name="26may2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases-statements/uscirf-welcomes-appointment-speaker-nancy-pelosi-nury-turkel-us|title=USCIRF Welcomes Appointment by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Nury Turkel to U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom|date=26 May 2020|access-date=22 July 2020|website=[[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]]}}</ref><ref name="justice">{{cite web|url=https://www.justiceforall.org/save-uighur/justice-for-all-welcomes-the-appointment-of-nury-turkel-to-uscirf/|title=Justice For All Welcomes The Appointment Of Nury Turkel To USCIRF|date=27 May 2020 }}</ref> Mr.Turkel finished his term on the USCIRF in May 2024.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/us-commission-international-religious-freedom-welcomes-appointments |title=U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Welcomes Appointments of New Commissioners |website=[[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] |date=May 17, 2024 |access-date=May 22, 2024}}</ref>

⚫
In September 2020, Turkel was named one of the [[Time 100]] Most Influential People in the World.<ref name="time100">{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888261/nury-turkel/|title=Nury Turkel|author=Dolkun Isa|author-link=Dolkun Isa|magazine=Time|date=22 September 2020|access-date=23 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="time100uscirf">{{cite web|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases-statements/uscirf-commissioner-nury-turkel-named-time-s-annual-time100-list|title=USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel Named to TIME's Annual TIME100 List of 100 Most Influential People in the World|date=22 September 2020|access-date=23 September 2020|website=[[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]]}}</ref>

Turkel resigned from his position as chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project in May 2024 after multiple accusations of sexual harassment of female activists.<ref name="RFA-resignation">{{cite news |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/nury-turkel-sexual-harassment-resign-05202024153035.html |work=[[Radio Free Asia]] |title=Uyghur rights activist resigns amid sexual harassment claims |first=Alex |last=Willemyns |date=May 20, 2024 |access-date=May 22, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://uhrp.org/statement/uhrp-change-of-leadership-and-statement-on-sexual-harassment/ |title=UHRP Change of Leadership and Statement on Sexual Harassment |website=Uyghur Human Rights Project |date=May 17, 2024 |access-date=June 21, 2024}}</ref> He also finished his term on the USCIRF in May 2024.<ref name="RFA-resignation"/>


⚫
In September 2020, Mr.Turkel was named one of the [[Time 100]] Most Influential People in the World<ref name="time100">{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888261/nury-turkel/|title=Nury Turkel|author=Dolkun Isa|author-link=Dolkun Isa|magazine=Time|date=22 September 2020|access-date=23 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="time100uscirf">{{cite web|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases-statements/uscirf-commissioner-nury-turkel-named-time-s-annual-time100-list|title=USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel Named to TIME's Annual TIME100 List of 100 Most Influential People in the World|date=22 September 2020|access-date=23 September 2020|website=[[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]]}}</ref>. In 2021, ''Fortune Magazine'' included him in the list of 50 Greatest Leaders<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nury Turkel |url=https://fortune.com/ranking/worlds-greatest-leaders/2021/nury-turkel/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Fortune |language=en}}</ref>. He received the inaugural Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty in June 2021<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dame |first=Marketing Communications: Web {{!}} University of Notre |date=2021-06-11 |title=Uyghur human rights advocate Nury Turkel to receive first Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty {{!}} The Law School {{!}} University of Notre Dame |url=https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/2021-notre-dame-prize-for-religious-liberty-nury-turkel/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=The Law School |language=en}}</ref>. He was awarded the Global Soul Award by Jewish World Watch in September 2022<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Release: Gala honoring Uyghur leader Nury Turkel raises money for anti-genocide work |url=https://jww.org/site/press-release-global-soul/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Jewish World Watch |language=en-US}}</ref>.
===Activism===
===Activism===
On March 10, 2003, Turkel made a statement to the [[Congressional-Executive Commission on China]] on the worsening human rights situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) in the wake of the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/OPEN_FORUM_ON_HUMAN_RIGHTS_AND_THE_RULE_OF_LAW_IN_CHINA_%28IA_gov.gpo.fdsys.CHRG-108hhrg86862%29.pdf|title=OPEN FORUM ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW IN CHINA|pages=9–11, 39–41}}</ref>
On March 10, 2003, Turkel made a statement to the [[Congressional-Executive Commission on China]] on the worsening human rights situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) in the wake of the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/OPEN_FORUM_ON_HUMAN_RIGHTS_AND_THE_RULE_OF_LAW_IN_CHINA_%28IA_gov.gpo.fdsys.CHRG-108hhrg86862%29.pdf|title=OPEN FORUM ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW IN CHINA|pages=9–11, 39–41}}</ref>

Revision as of 08:00, 9 July 2024

Nury Turkel
نۇرى تۈركەل
Member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
In office
May 26, 2020[1][2] – May 14, 2024[3]
President of the Uyghur American Association
In office
2004–2006
Personal details
Born
Nury Ablikim Turkel

1970 (age 53–54)[4]
Kashgar,[5][6] Xinjiang, China
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
Nazli Bilkic
​
(m. 2007)​
Children2
ResidenceWashington, D.C.[7]
Alma materNorthwest A&F University[5]
American University
OccupationLawyer,[1][7]
public official, human rights advocate
Known forFirst U.S.-educated Uyghur lawyer[1]
Former President of the Uyghur American Association
Chairman of the Board for the
Uyghur Human Rights Project
EthnicityUyghur

Nury Ablikim Turkel (/ˌtʊrˈkɛl/; Uyghur: نۇرى ئابلىكىم تۈركەل; Chinese: 努里·特克尔, pinyin: Nǔlǐ Tèkè'ěr; b. 1970) is an American attorney, public official and human rights advocate based in Washington, D.C. He is a former chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, former chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and former president of the Uyghur American Association.[8]

Turkel is the first U.S.-educated Uyghur lawyer[1][9] and the first Uyghur American to be appointed to a political position in the United States.[10] In 2020, he was included on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[11][12] He is the author of No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs.

Early life

Turkel was born in a detention center[1][7][13][14] in Kashgar[5] (Kashi) during the Cultural Revolution.[15] Turkel's grandfather had been associated with Uyghur nationalists and his mother was interned when she was six-month pregnant. Turkel lived in the detention center for the first four months of his life.[13] Turkel's father was a professor and his mother was a businesswoman.[1][13] He completed his primary and middle school in his homeland. In 1991, he was admitted by Northwest A&F University in Shaanxi Province, China.[5] In 1995, Turkel received his BA and went to the United States for graduate education, never returning to China.[13][14] He has a MA in International Relations and a JD from American University.[5][15]

Career

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo meets with Commissioner Turkel and Chinese dissidents (July 2020)

In 2003, Mr.Turkel co-founded the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) and has served as its chairman of the board. Mr.Turkel reportedly resigned from his position as chair in May 2024.[6][16]

Between 2004 and 2006, Mr.Turkel served as president of the Uyghur American Association.[6][5][17]

In May 2020, Nury Turkel was appointed a commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) by then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who said of Nury Turkel, "I am confident that he will continue to be a powerful voice for the Uyghur people and for the cause of justice around the world."[1][2] Mr.Turkel finished his term on the USCIRF in May 2024.[18]

In September 2020, Mr.Turkel was named one of the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World[11][12]. In 2021, Fortune Magazine included him in the list of 50 Greatest Leaders[19]. He received the inaugural Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty in June 2021[20]. He was awarded the Global Soul Award by Jewish World Watch in September 2022[21].

Activism

On March 10, 2003, Turkel made a statement to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China on the worsening human rights situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) in the wake of the September 11 attacks.[22]

In May 2009 he defended a group of 17 Uyghurs who had been held in Guantánamo Bay since 2002.[23] He wrote that Uyghurs have faced discrimination and are not a threat to U.S. communities.[24][25]

After the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, he condemned alleged Chinese oppression of Uyghurs in Ürümqi, saying that "the Uyghurs literally lost anything that they had, even their native language and their own cultural heritage that they had been proudly adhering to.[26][27][28]

In April 2012, Turkel praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for showing support and sympathy for the Uyghur people surrounding his trip to China in a way that was seen as rare among foreign leaders.[29][30] However, in July 2020, Turkel criticized Turkey for deporting Uyghur refugees to countries that then deported them to China.[31]

Turkey supported the June 2020 signing of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act[32][33] and a July 2020 United States Department of Commerce announcement sanctioning eleven Chinese companies involved in alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.[34] He called for sanctions on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) in particular.[35][36][37] In an August 2020 interview, Turkel described the camps as one of the worst global humanitarian crises and the largest incarceration of an ethnic minority since the Holocaust.[14] He also urged the U.S. Congress to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which would direct the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to presume that any goods produced in the Uyghur region are the product of forced labor.[38][4]

Personal life

Nury Turkel is a Muslim.[13][39] In 2007, he married Turkish American interior designer Nazli Bilkic. They have two children.[40]

Turkel is proficient in several languages, including Uyghur (his mother tongue), English, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese.[41][42] [43]

Bibliography

  • Turkel, Nury (2022). No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs. Toronto: Hanover Square Press. ISBN 978-1-335-46956-4.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "USCIRF Welcomes Appointment by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Nury Turkel to U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Justice For All Welcomes The Appointment Of Nury Turkel To USCIRF". 27 May 2020.
  3. ^ "U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Welcomes Appointments of New Commissioners". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b Turkel, Nury. "The U.S. Must Use the New Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act to Sanction Chinese Officials for Religious Persecution". Time. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Nury Turkel". Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Elana Schor (6 June 2020). "Q&A: Nury Turkel on Uighurs and new religious freedom post". Associated Press. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Survivors of Religious Persecution at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly". State Department. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Nury Turkel: A Turkish Primer on Engaging Beijing". www.uhrp.org. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  9. ^ Leigh Hartman (23 June 2020). "Once interned in China, Uyghur American fights for religious freedom". ShareAmerica. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  10. ^ "The Nexus with Art Swift 027". Event occurs at 1:00.
  11. ^ a b Dolkun Isa (22 September 2020). "Nury Turkel". Time. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  12. ^ a b "USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel Named to TIME's Annual TIME100 List of 100 Most Influential People in the World". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e Lisa Murray (14 December 2018). "Uighur lawyer Nury Turkel says Australia should sanction Chinese officials". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ a b c Kenneth Bandler (17 August 2020). "The Uyghers' plight is a humanitarian crisis. More must be done to help". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Nury Turkel, Commissioner". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  16. ^ "CPIFC Welcomes the Appointment of Mr. Nury Turkel to USCIRF". Citizen Power Initiatives for China. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Nury Turkel". Human Rights Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  18. ^ "U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Welcomes Appointments of New Commissioners". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Nury Turkel". Fortune. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  20. ^ Dame, Marketing Communications: Web | University of Notre (11 June 2021). "Uyghur human rights advocate Nury Turkel to receive first Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty | The Law School | University of Notre Dame". The Law School. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Press Release: Gala honoring Uyghur leader Nury Turkel raises money for anti-genocide work". Jewish World Watch. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  22. ^ "OPEN FORUM ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW IN CHINA" (PDF). pp. 9–11, 39–41.
  23. ^ Nury A. Turkel (26 June 2008). "Uighur Justice". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Meet the real Uyghurs". www.foreignpolicy.com. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  25. ^ Michael Clarke (2016). Anna Hayes, Michael Clarke (ed.). Xinjiang from the 'outside-in' and the 'inside-out': exploring the imagined geopolitics of a contested region. Inside Xinjiang: Space, Place and Power in China's Muslim Far Northwest. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-317-67250-0 – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Uyghur Protests Widen as Xinjiang Unrest Flares". www.democracynow.org. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  27. ^ "Mr. Nury Turkel Lawyer, Eastern Turkestan, USA". www.a9.com.tr. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  28. ^ "Nury Turkel: Why Western leaders have failed the Uighurs". www.independent.co.uk. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  29. ^ Nury A. Turkel (19 April 2012). "A Turkish Primer on Engaging Beijing". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  30. ^ "Xinjiang in China's Foreign Relations: Part of a New Silk Road or Central Asian Zone of Conflict?". Griffith University. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  31. ^ Aykan Erdemir; Philip Kowalski (21 August 2020). "China Buys Turkey's Silence on Uyghur Oppression". Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  32. ^ "China Warns of 'Countermeasures' After Trump OKs Bill to 'Punish' Country Over Ethnic Crackdown". News18. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  33. ^ Nury Turkel (8 June 2020). "The U.S. Must Use the New Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act to Sanction Chinese Officials for Religious Persecution". TIME. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  34. ^ Richard Finney (20 July 2020). "US Sanctions 11 Chinese Firms for Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang". Radio Free Asia. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  35. ^ Joshua Lipes (31 July 2020). "US Sanctions Key Paramilitary Group, Officials Over Abuses in China's Xinjiang Region". Radio Free Asia. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  36. ^ "USCIRF Applauds Global Magnitsky Sanctions Against Xinjiang Entity". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 31 July 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  37. ^ Linda Lew (24 August 2020). "Xinjiang's sprawling conglomerate may be biggest ever to face US sanctions". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  38. ^ Nury Turkel; James W. Carr (26 August 2020). "Was Your Face Mask Made Using Forced Labor in China?". The Diplomat. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  39. ^ Margaret Hagan (19 July 2010). "The human rights repertoire: its strategic logic, expectations and tactics" (PDF). International Journal of Human Rights. 14 (4): 575.
  40. ^ Turkel, Nury (2022). No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs. Toronto: Hanover Square Press. pp. 17, 54–55. ISBN 978-1-335-46956-4.
  41. ^ "HHRG-115-FA05-Bio-TurkelN-20180926.pdf" (PDF). Congress.gov. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  42. ^ "Attorney Nury Turkel". www.chinafile.com. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  43. ^ "INTERPOL Red Notice Attorney". www.estlundlaw.com. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
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