Kashgaria Party

Partıya Qaşgarı
Slogan	SLOGAN
Nation	Turkestan and Uyguristan
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Qaşgar
Current Membership	~1300
Representation	5/588
Key People	KEY PEOPLE
Political Outlook	Uygur separatist

The Kashgaria Party (Partıya Qaşgarı) is an Uygur nationalist group in eastern Turkestan. Their main goal is the withdrawal of Turkestani claims of sovereignty over the Qaşgar region and reversion to full Uygur jurisdiction.

Unlike some other separatist groups, however, the Kashgaria Party believe that this can be achieved peacefully. They are committed to a long-term campaign of passive resistance to try to convince the Turkestani authorities that Qaşgar is too much trouble and expense. In a shrewd campaign to hit the Uzbek-dominated Turkestanis in the wallet, the Partıya Qaşgarı has orchestrated a large ground-level movement among Uygurs involving the non-payment or late payment of taxes as a patriotic gesture.

The party was formed after the annexation of the Qaşgar region by Turkestan in 1994 and the 1994-1997 war over the territory between the two sides. It is very strong in the city itself, which is almost 65% Uygur. It was the Tajik and Kırğız dominated countryside around the city which originally voted to secede from Uyguristan and join the neighbouring Turkestan. The Uygur majority of Qaşgar city formed the Partıya Qaşgarı after the region was awarded to Turkestan.