The Uyghur American Association (UAA) is a Washington-based advocacy organization. It was established in 1998 by a group of Uyghur scholars to raise the public awareness of the Uyghur people in East Turkistan and the other parts of the world.
UAA works to promote the preservation and flourishing of a rich, humanistic and diverse Uyghur culture, and to support the right of the Uyghur people to use peaceful, democratic means to determine their own political future.
UAA is currently undertaking the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) for the purpose of promoting improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs and other indigenous groups in East Turkistan (also known as China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), on the premise that the assurance of basic human rights will facilitate the realization of the community's democratic aspirations.
UAA receives $249,000.00 annually from the National Endowment for Democracy for the human rights research and advocacy projects.
UAA's former president is Nury Turkel. Uyghur nationalist leader Rebiya Kadeer has been the president since May 29, 2006.
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