For those who have fled China, Turkey has offered them a place to reimagine their homeland.

Their people share a common heritage and similar languages. Turkey’s government recognizes Turkic people as their own, making it a rare Muslim-majority nation that has spoken up for the Uighurs despite China’s objections.

They can practice Islam without fear and celebrate the culture of their 12 million people. They teach classes on religion and the Uighur language and hold a yearly rally for their rights, activities that would be risky, or even banned, in China.

But many Uighurs in Turkey find themselves in a state of impermanence. They are denied work permits and business licenses, and in some cases permanent residence and citizenship. Once their Chinese passports expire, they are left effectively stateless.

‘Our people are being tortured’

The Uighurs speak a Turkic language and write in an Arabic script. Their mosques feature turquoise tiled domes, their homes are decorated with Afghan-style rugs and their kitchens serve up cumin-spiced lamb pilaf and naan. Some refer to their homeland — an expanse of deserts, mountains and ancient oasis towns — not by its official Chinese name but as East Turkestan, the name of two short-lived Uighur republics.

In their new home in Turkey, the Uighurs found something rare: a chance to restore their way of life and the reservoir of collective memory that China’s ruling Communist Party has sought to erode.

China intensified restrictions on the Uighurs after a spate of violent attacks in 2014 that the authorities blamed on extremists. Arrests and criminal convictions soared.

The authorities have confiscated Uighur books, restricted the use of the language in schools and detained scholars, artists and intellectuals, among others, in indoctrination camps.