Turkistan Islamic Party

The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is an Islamic extremist, terrorist, and Uyghur nationalist organization founded in Pakistan by Hasan Mahsum, who relocated the organization to Afghanistan following anti-terror crackdowns by the Pakistani government. Its stated goal is to establish an Islamic state in Xinjiang, China (i.e. East Turkestan), and throughout the rest of Central Asia.

The Chinese government asserts that the TIP is synonymous with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). ETIM has been described by scholars as demanding the total independence of Xinjiang and supporting or being indifferent to more radical methods driven by religious and ethnic motives.

Influenced by the success of the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union in the Soviet–Afghan War, Mahsum established the ETIP (which changed its name to the TIP in 2001) in September 1997. After the September 11 attacks, the Chinese government strove to include the removal of Uyghur Islamic extremist networks in the international effort against terrorism. The TIP's slogans contain anti-communist rhetoric and calls for the unity of Turkic peoples, indicating a movement akin to pan-Turkism historically congruent with Southern Xinjiang rather than pure, radical Salafi jihadism or religious extremism. The Chinese government views the group as a jihadist movement akin to the mujahideen in Afghanistan across the border, which inspired groups like ETIM.

The Syrian branch of the TIP was active in the Syrian civil war and were largely grouped in Idlib. The Syrian branch dissolved following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and was incorporated into the newly formed Ministry of Defense.