Turkistan Islamic Party Appoints New Deputies for Syria Branch

Of various foreign fighter groups in Syria, the Turkistan Islamic Party’s Syria branch is arguably one of the most prominent. Founded and led by Uyghurs who came into Syria from Turkey in order to participate in the insurgency against the Syrian government, the branch has also included non-Uyghurs in its ranks, and it is effectively an ally of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led order in the region of Idlib and its environs in northwest Syria.

It should be stressed however that the Syria branch is not some independent entity from the Turkistan Islamic Party’s centre based in Central Asia. Rather, the Syria branch coordinates and communicates with the centre. This fact is illustrated by a new statement issued from the centre and addressed to the Syria branch. The statement notes that following mutual consultation between the leadership council (‘Shura’/‘consultation’ council) of the centre and the leadership council of the Syria branch (also a ‘Shura’ council), two individuals have been newly appointed as deputies for the leader of the Syria branch. The statement urges for the members of the Syria branch to show compliance with the decision and preserve the unity of the Turkestan Islamic Party.

Below is the statement in Arabic and with my translation. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.