In that tower built of skulls you will find my skull as well
they cut my head off just to test the sharpness of a sword.
When before the sword our beloved cause-and-effect relationship
is ruined like a wild lover
Do you know that I am with you
PERHAT TURSUN, “ELEGY”
June 1988 was an unforgettable month for the Uyghurs. A group of Uyghur students noticed an insulting slogan, presumably written by a Chinese person, on one of the walls of a public toilet in Xinjiang University: “We will turn your men into slaves and your women into whores!” This incident quickly triggered a mass protest of Uyghur students against the Xinjiang authorities, which just as quickly suppressed it. The protest was described by the Chinese government as an act of secession, a serious crime against the sovereignty of the Chinese state. The Uyghurs considered the inscription a gross insult, foreshadowing many insults and calamities to come.