The Uygur people of Xinjiang China are in really a very unenviable position.They do not wear saffron robes and are not Buddhists (or at least not any more) so they do not attract attention of Richard Gere's of this world as Tibetans do. Somehow after "9/11" being Muslim does not elicit a lot of world sympathy.
They live under a regime whose censorship laws are so harsh that you could be imprisoned ( and possibly worse) for handing out leaflets that are anyway negative of state. So, they can not effectively get message of their plight to outside world.
They live in a country that is on verge of an economic boom which has all capitalists "free" nations around world almost salivating to get a part of bone and who are willing to bury any scruples or ignore any "minor issues" of human right abuses to do so.
But Uygur are a Turkic people and until fairly recently that meant something important to them. They had a worldwide brotherhood of "kinsmen" stretching from Central Asian plateaus through to Caucuses and to Turkey. Among these "brothers" they sought solace, moral support and inspiration. In many instances their lives where saved by being able to step over borders of Xinjiang into neighbouring Turkic nations. Generations of Uygur intelligentsia have looked to Turkey for inspiration as leaders and supporters.
However, as recent new articles attest, this is no longer case. Where, once they sought and received a shoulder, now Uygur may face a fist. Where once they may have sought sanctuary more than likely now they will be marched back to borders and forcibly repatriated no matter what their possible fate. Where once in Turkey they had parks named after their nationalist leaders now Uygur organisations in diaspora are refused right to hold peaceful international meetings.
This then is reality of Central Asian and Turkish politics today where "brothers" can be ignored.
Is it because Uygurs are international terrorists? Do they pose a threat to regional peace and safety? No, it is no more than a desire by these nations to curry favour with Chinese.