Nursiman Abdurrashid, an Uighur trying to save her family from Chinese concentration camps, made a statement to the press during the gathering.
"We all deserve spending a nice time with family and friends as all ordinary citizen do but unfortunately we are gathering here under the hot sun talking about 21st century genocide," said Nursiman Abdurreshid, whose parents and two brothers were imprisoned in Chinese concentration camps.
"After the Holocaust, we all said never again, but we are letting this happen once again before our own eyes today. On July 27 2020 marked 37 months since I lost contact with my family back home. Our last phone conversation occurred on 18th of June 2017. Back then I didn't know what would happen, what would be is the last time I would hear their voice. I initially had heard that they were detained in concentration camps," said Abdurrashid, adding that the Chinese Embassy in Turkey informed her that her 54 years old father and 51 years old mother and her two brothers were all imprisoned.
"What crimes they have committed! Sending me to study abroad is a crime in their eyes," she said.
Dear Friends, we are gathering here not to show our weakness or give up. The Chinese government is trying to erase us because we are Uighurs and Muslims. We are here to tell them we exist. We are here to tell them that we stand against your oppression. And we are here to tell them we will not stop until our parents are free, until our relatives and friends gain their freedom, until all the innocent kids will reunite with their parents and live at home not in concentration camps.
She went on to say: "As an Uighur whose whole family was split by the Chinese Communist party and as a victim of this 21st century genocide, I urge all countries, world leaders, human rights organizations and also individuals to take concrete action. No more slogans. We call on you to use economic pressure and the diplomatic pressure and sanction Chinese officials, boycott Chinese factories and international brands benefiting from forced Uighur labors."
She concluded her statement as follows: "International community must hold China accountable for its crime. Impunity is not an option. This genocide happening under our eyes. If we fail to stop this, this stain will remain in our history forever. I request the Chinese Communist Regime to close the concentration camps and prisons and to release millions of innocent Uighurs." (ILKHA)