he Uyghur American Association was established on May 23, 1998 in Washington D.C. at the First Uyghur American Congress. The growing Uyghur community in the United States created a need for a unified Uyghur organization to serve the needs of the community here and to represent the collective voice of the Uyghurs in East Turkistan. Therefore, Uyghur activists in US decided to call an Uyghur congress in Unites States to bring together all the Uyghurs in America to form a unified organization. For that end, a Congress Preparatory Committee was formed in February 1998. The seven committee members, Ghulamettin Pahta, Dolkun Kamberi, Rishat Abbas, Sadat Obol, Iskender Kadir and Turdi Ghoja met several times during the three months prior to Uyghur Congress to make preparations. The Congress, which was named First Uyghur American Congress was held on May 23, 1998 in Washington D.C. At the Congress, The Uyghur American Association was formally established and 9 Board of Directors (BOD) for its offices were elected. They were:

Dr. Dolkun Kamberi, Chair
Dr. Richat Abbas, Vice-chair
Dr. Erkin Sidick, General Secretary
Mr. Ghulamettin Pahta, Honory Chair and Director of Cultural and External Affairs
Mr. Iskander Kadir,Treasurer
Mr. Turdi Ghoja, Director of Public Relations
Mr. Tughluk Abdurazak, Director of Education
Dr. Aldurrakhim Aitbayev, Director of Communication
Dr. Murat Quadir.Director of Publication

Here is the functions of the board of directors:

1). Chairman: organizes and oversees all activities of the organization. Must have strong organizational skills and be able to give convincing speeches, write political articles, and be fluent in English, Uyghur.

2). Vice-Chairman: Collects information on the Human Rights situations and activities in East Turkistan and report to the Board of directors. Must have strong knowledge of Human Rights and the UN convention on Human Rights.

3). General Secretary: Coordinates the activities of Board of the directors. Keeps track of all the activities of the Association and make permanent record of them. Prepares final documents, letters and appeals which have been prepared by the Board of directors. Therefore the person must to be fluent in English and have good writing skills.

4). Treasurer: Responsible for financial matters of the organization. Organizes fund raising activities and oversees spending.

5). Director of Public Relations: Makes direct contacts with US government officials and other organizations on behalf of the Uyghur community. Establishes good relations with UN Human Rights organizations and other organizations.

6). Director of Education: Promotes and creates scientific, cultural exchange opportunities between Americans and Uyghurs around the world. Assists ambitious students in East Turkistan to come to US for higher learning. Responsibility includes finding schools, sending information, assisting in the admission process, and finding accommodation for new students and scholars.

7). Director of Communication: Prepares brochures and leaflets, sets up the home page for the organization.

8) Directors of Publication : Responsible for journal and other publications.

9). Director of Cultural Affairs: organizes cultural activities and community gatherings.

In the first several months of UAA's establishment, several organizational changes occurred within UAA. In February 1999, the UAA offices were redistributed through voting among the Board Of Directors of UAA.

New Office Distribution:

Chairman: Ghulamuttin Pahta
Vice-Chairman: Rishat Abbas
General Secretary: Turdi Ghoja
Treasurer: Murat Quadir
Director of Communications: Alim Saytoff
Director of Cultural Affairs: Iskender Kadir
Director of Education: Tughluk Abdurazak
Director of Publications: Erkin Sidick
Director of Public Relations: Abdulrakhim Aitbayev

Alim Seytoff resigned in May 1999. Abdulrakhim Aitbayev resigned in August 1999. The rest of the Board of Directors held their offices for the next 12 months until the Second Uyghur American Congress was held on May 28, 2000 in Washington D. C.

More than 80 people attended the Second Uyghur American Congress and elected the second term of Board Of Directors for UAA.

Five people were elected for BOD from the 14 people who nominated themselves.