[Bilimsel Haber] Kasgarli Mahmud'un Anisina I: Destruction of old city - Kashgar

[Gonul Pultar]

 From m.tutuncu at QUICKNET.NL



An unsettling piece of news - see the link below, and also the recent
article by Michael Wines in the NY Times ('To protect an ancient city, 
China moves to raze it', 27 May 2009).

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/asia/28kashgar.html?_r=2&em=&pagewan
ted=all

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/31562/china-to-raze-ancient-city-in-order-
to-save-it/


KASHGAR, China: This oasis town near the western edge of the Taklamakan
Desert, in ancient times a major Silk Road destination for traders and
recently a popular tourist attraction, contains one of the 
best-preserved examples of a traditional Islamic city in central Asia. 
But now the Chinese government is demolishing at least 85 percent of the 
Old City, and many of its 13,000 families, Muslims from the Turkic 
ethnic group called the Uighurs, will be relocated.

Plans call for construction of a new Old City, a mix of mid-rise 
apartments, plazas, alleys widened into avenues, and reproductions of 
ancient Islamic architecture. The aim is to preserve the Uighur culture, 
officials say, and the demolition is considered urgent because an 
earthquake could cause the centuries-old buildings to collapse, killing 
thousands. But preservationists say the razing is cruel to the displaced 
residents, as well as a blow to China?s Islamic and Uighur culture.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/asia/28kashgar.html?_r=2&em=&pagewan
ted=all

Alain George <alain.george at gmail.com>




Turkistan Newsletter Fri, 29 May 2009 23:07:14
Turkistan Bulteni ISSN:1386-6265