Anti-China protesters in Turkey attack Koreans by mistake
Staff Reporter
2015-07-07
Two Chinese tourists take a selfie in the ruins at Ephesus, Turkey. (Photo/CFP)
Turkish nationalists protesting China's treatment of ethnic Uyghur Muslims accidentally attacked some Korean tourists by mistake in Istanbul's old city on July 4, reports Huanqiu, the Chinese-language website of China's nationalist tabloid Global Times.
Protesters in Turkey waving flags representing the Uyghur homeland of Xinjiang in northwestern China, marched towards the Topkapi Palace in the heart of Istanbul. The website cited South Korea-based newspaper Hankook Ilbo as saying that that the protest was being held to call for a boycott of Chinese goods after local news agencies reported that Uyghurs have been prohibited from observing Ramadan according to Islamic customs.
The Korean tourists were reportedly attacked when some of the protesters mistook them for Chinese. Riot police later used tear gas to disperse the crowd and save the tourists.
Global Times said China has not taken kindly to the accusations, which it says are baseless. Beijing has asked Turkish authorities provide proof of any restriction of the religious activities of Uyghurs. The paper went on to say that a representative of Beijing said their country respects the history and religion of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and said the allegations needed to be corrected.
Last Wednesday, a popular Chinese restaurant in Turkey had its windows smashed by a group of protesters who were unaware of the fact that the owner of the restaurant is in fact Uyghur.
Pan Zhiping, a retired expert on Central Asia at Xinjiang's Academy of Social Science, told Huanqiu that the Justice and Development Party, Turkey's ruling party, is trying to distract people from the fact that it just lost many seats in the country's June 7 elections and is facing difficulties forming a government.
Agence France-Presse said the attackers belong to the far-right "Grey Wolves" who belong to Turkey's ultra-nationalist party. The group's goal is to create a new Greater Turkestan empire that includes Xinjiang. Hua Liming, a researcher and a specialist on Middle East conflicts from Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing said the ideology of a Greater Turkestan empire has existed in Turkey for some time, which would cover territory inhabited by Turkic peoples extending through Central Asia to Xinjiang.
The number of Chinese tourists to Turkey has increased since Ankara eased the visa application process. On July 5, the Chinese embassy in Turkey issued a warning to its citizens about the anti-China protests taking palce. The embassy reminded Chinese tourists to stay away from protesters and to travel in groups when they are in Turkey, said Huanqiu.
