Turkey steps back from its support for Uyghurs; Abandons criticism of China's Xinjiang policy
09 Mar 2021 13:09:30
Ankara, Mar 9: Turkey has abandoned its public criticism of China's Uyghur policies in the recent years and the Turkish govt has begun cracking down on Uyghurs activists at home. After the Turkish police stopped Uyghur protesters in Ankara, the Turkish officials also have publicly cast doubt on some of the claims of the protesters.
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In Jan, after months of protests in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul by Turkey-based Uyghurs trying to find information about missing family members, police banned the gatherings over concerns about security and COVID-19. Some activists then moved their protests to the Chinese embassy in Ankara, where they demonstrated for several days in early Feb. The Turkish Police had detained few activists for five hours recently, agreeing to release them if they ended their protest outside the diplomatic mission.
The Chinese embassy in Ankara has stated that the Chinese govt has been helping the 'Chinese compatriots from Xinjiang' contact their relatives. The embassy says the protesters are mainly demonstrating in 'an attempt to smear' China. The embassy's statement also stated that "It's lawful responsibility for the Turkish policemen to take proper measures to protect the Chinese Embassy and Consulate and maintain order when there is a protest or demonstration nearby."
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After the Turkish police stopped Uyghur protesters in Ankara, the Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu made a statement on Feb 15, warning the protesters to avoid falling prey to a 'planned international conflict that comes beyond the ocean.' Additionally, Omer Celik, the spokesperson for the Turkish ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP), also said on Feb 24 that his govt has 'high sensitivity' for Uyghurs' living conditions in China.
China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination. Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party's brutal crackdown on the ethnic community.