China urges Turkey to respect sovereignty as Beijing’s worries over Xinjiang influence grow
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu that both sides should show understanding over ethnic issues
- Moves to upgrade the political role of a grouping of Turkic-speaking states have prompted concern in Beijing about its influence on the Uygur population
In a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: “It is hoped that the two sides will firstly support each other in safeguarding their own sovereignty, security and development interests.”
The two nations should “refrain from participating in activities against each other on international occasions” and “enhance mutual understanding through bilateral channels on differences in historical and ethnic issues”, Wang said, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday.
The group, which was established in 2009 as the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States, has its headquarters in Istanbul. Its other members are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with Turkmenistan and Hungary as observer states.
Cavusoglu said on Wednesday he conveyed Turkey’s “views, expectations and sensitivities” over the Uygurs to Wang.
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Wang said the two nations should “abide by the basic norm of international relations of not interfering in each other’s internal affairs”.
About 50,000 Uygurs are believed to live in Turkey, the largest Uygur diaspora outside Central Asia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in July that Uygurs in China should live freely and as “equal citizens”, after refusing to extradite a prominent Uygur activist leader Beijing accused of terrorism.
But Wang and Cavusoglu focused more on economic cooperation in their meeting on Wednesday, with the Chinese foreign minister calling for work on currency swaps that would make it easier to settle trade deals in their respective currencies to speed up.
Wang called on the two sides to further synergise their development strategies, advance landmark projects such as nuclear power and expand cooperation in areas such as new energy, 5G, cloud computing and big data.
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Wang also raised China’s concern over the Aukus alliance – the security pact between the US, UK and Australia – saying it raises the risk of nuclear proliferation.
China is hosting foreign ministers from Gulf states, Iran and Turkey this week, to discuss free-trade agreements and ways to resolve the Iranian nuclear controversy.
Wang and Cavusoglu also discussed the crisis in Kazakhstan.
In written message to his Kazak counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China resolutely opposes any forces undermining Kazakhstan’s stability and instigating a so-called colour revolution.
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