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China’s treatment of Uygurs an obstacle to developing better ties with Turkey and Middle East countries, say experts at Singapore conference
- China is now one of the largest trading partners of Turkey, which is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative
- But its treatment of its Muslim minority Uygurs “undermines mutual confidence”
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China’s treatment of its Muslim minorities, the Uygurs, will be a potential source of contention in any effort to build closer ties with Turkey and Middle East countries, experts at a conference said on Tuesday.
China was now one of the largest trading partners of Turkey, which is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Leaders of both nations have pledged to cooperate more on trade and investments.
But Altay Atli, of Istanbul’s Koc University, said there were still “serious differences” between the two nations over the treatment of the approximately 11 million Uygurs in China’s Xinjiang region, and this “undermines mutual confidence and trust between the two sides”. Until the issue was resolved, there would be “suspicion” by Turkey, he said.
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Muslim-majority Turkey on Sunday condemned China over reports it had detained more than a million Uygurs in re-education camps, which Beijing claimed were for vocational training and helped people stay away from religious extremism. Ankara described the reports as a “great embarrassment for humanity”, a comment China said was “completely unacceptable”.
Serkan Yolaçan, of the Middle East Institute in Singapore, said China was “integrating the land (Xinjiang) but isolating the people (Uygurs)”.
Xinjiang was a key piece in the BRI and a gateway into Central Asia, the research fellow noted. But failure to integrate the Chinese Uygurs well could affect the mainland’s plans.
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