# Osman Batur

Osman Batur (1899 – April 29, 1951) also known mononymously as Osman was a Kazakh military leader active in the Altai Mountains. He led a personal army of fellow Kazakhs and fought alongside the Soviet-backed Second East Turkestan Republic, before defecting to the Nationalist forces of the Republic of China.

## Career

Osman was born Osman Islamuly (also translated as Osman Islam) in 1899 in Öngdirkara, in the Köktogay region of Altay. He was the son of Islam Bey, a middle-class farmer. Osman came to be known mononymously as "Osman"; his allies gave him the honorific Batur, meaning "hero". During the 1930s, he was a little-known gang leader. In 1940, Osman became one of the leaders of the Kazakh uprising in the Altay district against Soviet-aligned governor Sheng Shicai. The rebellion was caused by the transfer of pastures and watering places to Dungans and Han Chinese settlers. When Sheng aligned himself with the Kuomintang government, Stalin, although wary of Osman, decided to assist the rebellion in order expand Soviet influence in Xinjiang. Mongolian Chairman Khorloogiin Choibalsan also supplied to the rebels. In the spring of 1944, Osman was forced to retreat to Mongolia, and his unit's departure was covered by the Soviet and Mongolian air forces. He later joined the Soviet-backed Second East Turkestan Republic (ETR). By September 1944, the Kuomintang had been expelled from Altay.
Osman was appointed by the ETR government as governor of the Altay District. Disputes immediately began between him and the ETR government. Osman and his troops ignored government orders. In particular, when the ETR army suspended military operations against the Kuomintang troops (the ETR leadership accepted the proposal to start negotiations to create a single coalition government in Xinjiang), Osman's troops intensified their activities. Osman rebelled against the ETR and began plans to create an Altay Khanate, free of Soviet or Chinese influence, hoping for support from Mongolia. However these plans never came to fruition.

## Supporting the Kuomintang

At the end of 1946, Osman joined the Kuomintang government and was appointed the head of the Xinjiang government in Altay District. At the beginning of June 1947, several hundred of Osman’s troops, with the support of Kuomintang army units, invaded the territory of Mongolia in the Battle of Baitag Bogd. On June 5, Mongol troops approached with the support of Soviet aviation and expelled the Chinese troops. Then, the Mongols invaded Xinjiang but were defeated at the Chinese outpost of Pei-ta-shan. Subsequently, both sides exchanged in several raids; skirmishes continued until the summer of 1948. Osman continued supporting the Kuomintang government, receiving reinforcements and supplies. He fought in the Altay District against the troops of the East Turkestan Republic, but was defeated and fled east. The Chinese Communists took control of Xinjiang in 1949, with Osman continuing his campaign against the People's Liberation Army. He was captured in Qinghai and executed in Urumqi on April 29, 1951.
After his death, many of his followers fled over the Himalayas. They were later airlifted to Turkey and resettled there. He was enshrined in the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei in 1981.