Kerim wanted to come after she had seen an announcement on Facebook that a new magazine for Uighur children was out. The publication, called Four-L eaf Clover , is the first literary magazine abroad written by Uighur children for Uighur children.
Its editor, Uighur-language teacher and poet Muyesser Abdulehed, wanted to give children from her ethnicity a chance to see a reflection of themselves in public and to show them that their community has a voice in its mother tongue.
Copies of the magazine have made it into the hands of Uighur children living in a dozen countries, but not to their homeland, the Chinese region of Xinjiang, where the government has outlawed their language in schools and is on a mission to erase their culture. The Uighur teacher and poet Muyesser Abdulehed holds a copy of Four-Leaf Clover, the first literary magazine abroad written by Uighur children for Uighur children, on April In the past few years, more and more Uighurs, a minority who speak a Turkic language and call Xinjiang home, have moved to Turkey as they flee an assimilation campaign led by Beijing.
Some live in Zeytinburnu, a neighborhood adjoining the sea that for decades has been a safe haven for immigrants from the Middle East and Central Asia. Traveling to Turkey has been possible for Uighurs, who are seen as culturally close to Turkish people.
But once settled there, many live in a legal limbo, without resident or work permits or the possibility to renew their Chinese passports. Experts estimate the Chinese government has placed up to 1. But the seemingly arbitrary detentions, mass surveillance, and clampdown on religious expression suggest an aim to instill fear and strip Uighurs of their cultural and religious identity.
