Turghun Almas

Who was Turghun Almas?

Turghun Almas was an Uyghur historian and poet born in Kashgar. He was criticized for his "support for ethnic nationalist separatists" by Wang Lequan. He was jailed from 1943 to 1946 and again from July 1947 to April 1949 for his political activities. In 1950 he became an editor for the Azadliq newspaper.

Turghun is perhaps most noted for his book Uyghurlar. He began researching Uyghur history in 1980, and the book was banned after its publication in 1992. He was allegedly under house arrest until his death while he was in Urumqi.