The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), also frequently referred to as the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), is an extremist militant organization primarily composed of Uyghurs from the Xinjiang region of China. Its stated objective is to establish an independent Islamic state called "East Turkestan," covering parts of China's Xinjiang province and regions in Central and South Asia.
The group was founded in 1997 by Hasan Mahsum, a Uyghur from the Kashgar region of Xinjiang, alongside Abudukadir Yapuquan. The organization was initially established in Pakistan but relocated to Afghanistan in 1998 to seek sanctuary under the Taliban regime. During this period, it established close ties with Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
Between 1990 and 2001, the Chinese government attributed over 200 acts of violence—including bombings, assassinations, and attacks on public venues—to various Uyghur militant groups, including ETIM. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, ETIM was officially designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations in 2002. The United States also placed it on its terrorist exclusion list, citing evidence of its involvement in attacks and its operational connections to Al-Qaeda.
Founder Hasan Mahsum was killed by Pakistani security forces in 2003. After a period of relative dormancy, the group resurfaced under the leadership of Abdul Haq al-Turkistani. The group has maintained a transnational presence, was active in plotting attacks around the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and has been involved in militant activities in the Afghan-Pakistan border region.
Since 2011, the group—often operating as the "Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria"—has participated in the Syrian Civil War, operating alongside other jihadist groups such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Reports from the United Nations Security Council have consistently identified ETIM/TIP as an active militant entity in Afghanistan and Syria.
In November 2020, the United States removed ETIM from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, stating there had been "no credible evidence" for over a decade that ETIM continued to function as a unified operational terrorist organization. This move was strongly criticized by the Chinese government, which continues to view the group as a primary security threat.