Abdurehim Heyit, born in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, on June 1, 1962, is an Uyghur folk singer and composer. He graduated from the Kashgar School of Art in 1986 and went on to work for the China National Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble as well as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Song and Dance Ensemble. He is widely renowned for his musical performances on the dutar, a traditional two-stringed instrument, and has studied music in Beijing while performing with national Chinese art troupes. Heyit is celebrated for his preservation of traditional Uyghur melodies and has been described as a distinguished poet by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In March 2017, Heyit was arrested and imprisoned, reportedly receiving an eight-year sentence after performing the song “Fathers” (also known as “Atilar”), which is based on a traditional Uyghur poem urging younger generations to respect the sacrifices of their ancestors and containing a reference to the martyrs of war. In February 2019, erroneous reports of his death in Chinese custody surfaced from Turkish government sources, initiating a brief diplomatic crisis in Chinese-Turkish relations. This claim was refuted when Chinese state media released video footage of Heyit alive and in good health, and he was subsequently interviewed by Turkish journalists in Urumqi in July 2019.
