Turkey conveys ‘sensitivity’ about Uygurs to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi amid protest
- Around 300 demonstrators gathered in Istanbul, chanting ‘Stop Uygur Genocide, Close the Camps’
- The Turkish foreign minister also said the two countries would enhance their cooperation on Covid-19 vaccines during talks with his Chinese counterpart
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday he conveyed Turkey’s “sensitivity and thoughts” about Uygur Muslims to his Chinese counterpart during talks in Ankara, amid protests in Istanbul.
In a tweet after their talks, Cavusoglu said Ankara and Beijing would enhance their cooperation in the pandemic and on vaccines. Wang also met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
Uygurs’ worries have been fuelled by Ankara’s dependence on China for Covid-19 vaccines until now, having received 15 million doses from Sinovac Biotech and ordered tens of millions more. This week, Turkey received 1.4 million doses of the vaccine developed by Germany’s BioNTech, the first significant batch of non-Chinese vaccines.
Around 300 demonstrators gathered in Istanbul, chanting “Dictator China” and “Stop Uygur Genocide, Close the Camps”. Some waved the blue-and-white flags of the independence movement of East Turkestan, the name by which it refers to Xinjiang.
Uygurs hold regular demonstrations in the capital Ankara and the largest city Istanbul to protest against China’s treatment of Uygurs.
UN experts estimate at least a million Uygurs and other Muslims are held in detention centres in Xinjiang.
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Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims
The United States said in January China has committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uygurs.
China denies accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, and has said the complexes it set up in the region provided vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism.
Cavusoglu has denied that the extradition agreement between the two countries would lead to Uygurs being sent back to China, describing it as a routine accord similar to ones Turkey has with other countries.
A Chinese embassy spokesperson said last month that Uygurs who have been holding regular protests near China’s diplomatic premises in Turkey in recent months were trying to deceive Turkish people and damage relations.
