Page "East Turkestan" Paragraph 4

The term " East Turkestan " is inextricably linked with politics.

In general, most of the toponyms for places in Central Asia — although its boundaries and Xinjiang's inclusion in it are disputed — do not reflect the region's diversity.

As the history of Xinjiang in particular is contested between the government of China and Uyghur separatists, the official and common name of Xinjiang Autonomous Region ( with its Uyghur loanword counterpart, Shinjang ) is rejected by those seeking independence.

" East Turkestan ", a term of Russian origin, asserts a continuity with a " West Turkestan ", or the now-independent states of Soviet Central Asia.

Not all of those states accept the designation of " Turkestan ", however ; Tajikistan's Persian-speaking population feels more closely aligned with Iran and Afghanistan.

For separatists, East Turkestan is coterminous with Xinjiang, or the independent state that they would like to lead in Xinjiang.

Proponents of the term " East Turkestan " argue that the name Xinjiang (; Postal map spelling: Sinkiang ) is arrogant, because if the individual Chinese characters are to be taken literally and not as a proper name, then Xinjiang means " New Territory ".

The official translation for " Xinjiang " is " old territory returned to the motherland ".

Some Chinese scholars have advocated a name change for the region, or a reversion to the older term Xiyu, arguing that " Xinjiang " might mislead people into thinking that Xinjiang is " new " to China.

Other scholars defend the name, noting that Xinjiang was new to the late Qing Dynasty, which gave Xinjiang its current name.