In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Nury Turkel about the Chinese Communist Party's genocide in Xinjiang, the nature of the atrocities, and what it means for the United States.
Guest Biography
Nury Turkel is the first U.S.-educated Uyghur-American lawyer, foreign policy expert, and human rights advocate. He is the recent author of No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs. He was born in a re-education camp at the height of China’s tumultuous Cultural Revolution and spent the first several months of his life in detention with his mother. He came to the United States in 1995 as a student and was later granted asylum by the U.S. government. Since June 2021, Turkel has served as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. In September 2020, Turkel was named one of the TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World; and in May 2021, he was named on Fortune's List of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders. He is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In June 2021, the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative honored Turkel with the first Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty. Turkel received an M.A. in International Relations and a J.D. from the American University in Washington, DC. As an attorney, he specializes in regulatory compliance, federal investigation and enforcement, anti-bribery, legislative advocacy, and immigration. In addition to his professional career, Turkel has devoted his time and energy to promoting Uyghur human rights and supporting American and universal democratic norms. He serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), which he co-founded in 2003.
Resources from the Conversation
- Read Nury's new book, No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs
- Watch the PBS Frontline special on Xinjiang
- Read the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
- Read the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
- Read Michael's policy paper on America's response to the atrocities in Xinjiang
- Follow Nury on Twitter