--- description: Find out why Nury Turkel is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Nury Turkel: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecd3e04df0b203f4/698a126b457a527d9fd646e2/time-100-Nury-Turkel-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Nury Turkel by Dolkun Isa  Courtesy Nury Turkel [Nury Turkel](https://time.com/5847184/uyghur-human-rights-policy-act-china/ "undefined") and I are Uyghurs, part of the majority-Muslim ethnic group that is currently facing what many human-rights groups are starting to recognize as a full-scale genocide at the hands of [China’s communist leadership](https://time.com/5764561/china-human-rights-report/ "undefined"). With millions of our people being herded into concentration camps—where women are sterilized or raped, and others suffer torture and experimentation—or forced into industrial slavery in China’s factories, we have lost everything dear to us. As a U.S.-educated attorney, Nury has worked tirelessly to build the [Uyghur human-rights movement](https://time.com/5598045/china-tiananmen-uighur-immigration/ "undefined"), representing 150 Uyghur political refugees to win asylum in the U.S. and bringing the plight of our people to the world’s attention. He is the first Uyghur American to serve on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, appointed by [Nancy Pelosi](https://time.com/5388347/nancy-pelosi-democrats-feminism/ "undefined") in May, helping shape U.S. and global policy responses to the crisis. Nury is a leader on the global stage, fighting for universal human dignity and helping keep hope alive for the Uyghur people. _Isa is president of the World Uyghur Congress_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888261/nury-turkel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888261/nury-turkel/"},"headline":"Nury Turkel","datePublished":"2020-09-22T19:26:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:19.381Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888261/nury-turkel/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Icons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecd3e04df0b203f4/698a126b457a527d9fd646e2/time-100-Nury-Turkel-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecd3e04df0b203f4/698a126b457a527d9fd646e2/time-100-Nury-Turkel-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888261/nury-turkel/","name":"Nury Turkel"}}]}] ```