Abduweli Ayup

Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist and academic who has become a prominent voice for the preservation and promotion of the Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken by the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. After fleeing China due to the oppressive policies of the Chinese government against Uyghurs, he now resides in Norway. Ayup has been involved in international discussions and conferences aimed at enhancing linguistic diversity and advocating for the rights of marginalized languages. His recent participation in the conference 'Language technologies for all' in Paris was overshadowed by the last-minute cancellation of his scheduled speech, which he attributed to censorship related to his background and the political sensitivities surrounding the Uyghur issue.