Mother of high-profile Uyghur activist allowed to leave China as part of prisoner exchange

Nury Turkel says ‘prayers answered’ after 73-year-old mother released from China’s custody

China has allowed Ayshem Mamut, the mother of high-profile Uyghur rights activist Nury Turkel, to leave the country after striking a sensitive prisoner exchange deal, her family and officials at the White House said.

The US national security council said it was “pleased Ayshem Mamut is home with her family” in the US, confirming that she was freed by China in a deal between Washington and Beijing.

A Chinese national, Ms Mamut, 73, celebrated Thanksgiving meal in Virginia with her family, including grandchildren, this past weekend, reported The New York Times.

“Our prayers have been answered. After more than 20 years, I am overjoyed to be reunited with my mother here in Washington. Most importantly, she can finally embrace her grandchildren for the first time,” said Mr Turkel in a post on X.

He added: “Celebrating #Thanksgiving together brings indescribable joy, gratitude, and a sense of normalcy. This reunion marks the end of a two-decade ordeal. Sadly, my father did not live to see this day – he passed away over two years ago without ever meeting his grandchildren. Yet, I feel his presence guiding us, his strength and hope lighting the way to this moment.”

Mr Turkel, who is also a senior fellow at the Hudson institute, a Washington-based think tank, thanked the US president Joe Biden, secretary of state Antony Blinken, and White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan in his post.

Last week, China and the US brokered a deal allowing three American citizens imprisoned for years by China to come home. Their release, announced earlier by the White House, was the result of a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration.

The Chinese government also announced that the US had returned four people to China, including at least three Chinese citizens who it said had been held for “political purposes”, and a person who had been sought by Beijing for crimes and had been living in the US. It did not identify the four.

The Chinese government under president Xi Jinping has been accused of notoriously prosecuting Uyghurs and Hui Muslims over the past decade through alleged widespread abuses and arbitrary detentions. Beijing has routinely denied allegations of “crimes against humanity”, calling them the “lie of the century”.

Ms Mamut was released alongside three Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained by China. Mr Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Mr Li and Mr Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges.

The release of Americans deemed wrongfully detained in China has been a top agenda item in each conversation between the US and China, and the negotiations hinted at a willingness by Beijing to engage with the outgoing Democratic administration before Republican president-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.