Abdukerim Abbasov

Abdukerim Abbasov (1921 – 27 August 1949) was a Uyghur politician, revolutionary, and educator who was active in Xinjiang, China, during the early 20th century. He was one of the leaders of the Ili Rebellion of 1944, which resulted in the founding of the Second East Turkestan Republic (ETR) in northern Xinjiang. Abdukerim, along with Ehmetjan Qasimi, led the Marxist faction within the ETR, which in 1946 set aside the rebellion's declaration of independence and joined the Chinese nationalists in forming a provincial coalition government.

Abdukerim and Ehmetjan led the ETR faction which joined the Chinese communists toward the end of the Chinese Civil War. They and several other senior leaders of the ETR perished in August 1949 in a plane crash while traveling en route to Beiping (Beijing) where they were invited to participate in the Chinese communists' political consultative conference, which resulted in the founding of the People's Republic of China. Abdukerim is officially hailed in the People's Republic of China as a revolutionary martyr.

Biography

Early life Abdukerim Abbasov was born in 1921 in Przhevalsk, Soviet Union, now Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. His family's ancestral home is Artush in the far west of Xinjiang, and in 1926 they moved to Ghulja (Yining). The school was one of the first modern multiethnic schools in the region. Liu tutored Abdukerim in Chinese and Mao Zedong's writings. In 1939, he participated in the Xinjiang Academy Summer Tour Group to Ili, organized by the academy's president Du Chongyuan, and toured his home region with Chinese communists. To evade government surveillance, Abdukerim relocated to Korgas where he received assistance and materiel from the Soviet Union. Sheng's recall left a power vacuum and several rebellions sprang out in northern Xinjiang.

In October 1944, Abdukerim returned to Ghulja with a guerilla force and, on 7 November 1944, launched the Ili Rebellion. Chinese Nationalist troops sent to retake the bridge were ambushed and the city was effectively cut off from Chinese Nationalist reinforcements.

The revolution drew support from Islamists, Pan-Turkic nationalists, and Marxists, and spread to Ili, Tarbaghatay (Tacheng) and Ashan (Altay).

On 8 April 1945, the various guerilla and partisan units of the revolution were organized into the East Turkestan National Army (ETNA) and Abdukerim became its political director. and Wensu on 6 September.

Abdukerim surrounded Aksu the on 7 September, but Chinese Nationalist defenders led by Zhao Hanqi fought back fiercely and broke the siege on 13 September. In mid-September, Abdukerim resumed the siege with reinforcements from the Soviet advisor Nasyrov and Tore's son, In February 1946, they reached a peace accord. He explained that the Communist League of Xinjiang had 15,000 members and its leadership had sought to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union but did not receive permission to do so. Abdukerim became the chair of the DRP's central committee. The coalition government with the Chinese nationalists subsequently broke down, leading to the reformation of the Ili District Council to the Three Districts Economic Commission. Deng met with Abdukerim and Ehmetjan and conveyed Mao's invitation to the political consultative conference in Beiping (Beijing), which the ETR leaders accepted. This delegation flew from Ghulja to Chita and then reached Beiping on 15 September by train via Manzhouli and Shenyang.

Personal life

While Abdukerim was working at the Middle School for Girls in Ghulja, he fell in love with Yang Fengyi , a colleague, despite Uyghur tradition against relationships outside of the Islamic faith and the disapproval of Yang's father, who was the head of the local Han merchants' association. During the Ili Rebellion, Abdukerim sheltered the Yang family inside his home.

Legacy In the People's Republic of China, Abdukerim is remembered as a martyr and hero in the struggle against the Chinese Nationalist government.