East Turkestan Republic
The oppressive reign of Sheng Shicai fueled discontent by Uyghur and other Turkic peoples of the region, and Sheng expelled Soviet advisors following U.S. support for the Kuomintang of the Republic of China. This led the Soviets to capitalize off of the Uyghur and other Turkic people's discontent in the region leading to their support of the Ili Rebellion in October 1944. The Ili Rebellion resulted in the establishment of the Second East Turkestan Republic on November 12, 1944 in the three districts of what is now the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. Several pro-KMT Uyghurs like Isa Yusuf Alptekin, Memet Emin Bugra, and Mesut Sabri opposed the Second East Turkestan Republic and supported the Republic of China. In the summer of 1949, the Soviets purged the top 30 leaders of the Second East Turkestan Republic and its top 5 officials died in a mysterious plane crash on August 27, 1949. On October 13, 1949 the People's Liberation Army entered the region and the East Turkestan National Army was merged into the PLA's 5th Army Corps leading to the official end of the Second East Turkestan Republic on December 22, 1949.