Turkistan Islamic Party

The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is a terrorist Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Pakistan by Hasan Mahsum. Its stated goals are to establish an Islamic state in Xinjiang and Central Asia, and eventually a caliphate.

This article is about the Islamist organization. For the secessionist movement, see East Turkestan independence movement. For the Syrian branch of the Islamic Movement, see Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria.

Turkistan Islamic Party
تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى
Leaders
Governing bodyShura Council
Dates of operation1997–present
Group(s)Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
MotivesAn Islamic state in Xinjiang and the entire Central Asia, eventually Caliphate
HeadquartersIdlib Governorate, Syria (largest operation base)
Active regions
(2014–2016)
Ideology
Anti-Chinese sentiment
Anti-Zionism
Sunni Islamism
Islamic fundamentalism
Pan-Islamism
Separatism
StatusDesignated as a terrorist organization by China, the European Union, the United Nations and multiple other governments; the ETIM is no longer designated as a terrorist organization by the United States since 2020, however the TIP is still designated as a terrorist organization. The U.S. views the TIP as separate from the ETIM. (see below)
Size1,000 in Afghanistan (2022 UN report)
4,000 in Syria
Allies
Opponents
Islamic State - Khorasan Province
Battles and wars
Turkistan Islamic Party
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese突厥斯坦伊斯兰党
Traditional Chinese突厥斯坦伊斯蘭黨
Uyghur name
Uyghurتۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى‎

The Chinese government asserts that the TIP has close ties to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), but the United States government refutes this, stating that there has been "no credible evidence" of ETIM activity since the 2000s. The US government argues that the ETIM label has been misused by the Chinese government to justify its "oppressive policies" against Muslims in Xinjiang. The U.S. State Department sees the Turkistan Islamic Party as a terrorist organization and a separate group from the ETIM. "Uyghur terrorists fighting in Syria and Afghanistan are members of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP)," the State Department spokesperson said to Newsweek, "a separate organization that China and others have incorrectly identified as ETIM."

Influenced by the success of the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War, the ETIP (later become known as TIP in 2001) was established in September 1997 by Hasan Mahsum in Pakistan. After 11 September 2001, the Chinese regime strove to include its repression of Uyghur opposition within the international dynamic of the struggle against Islamic terrorist networks. Their slogans contained anti-Communist rhetoric and calls for uniting Turks, indicating a movement akin to Islamic pan-Turkism historically congruent with southern Xinjiang rather than pure, radical Salafi jihadism or religious extremism. The revolt lasted several days and was put down by the Chinese government, which deployed significant forces to suppress the insurrection. The Chinese government viewed them as a jihadist movement akin to the mujahideen in Afghanistan across the border which gave birth to more radical movements such as the Party of Allah and the Islamic Movement of East Turkistan.

The Syrian branch of the TIP is active in the Syrian civil war and are largely grouped in Idlib.

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