- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 14,935
- Points
- 113
https://nordicmonitor.com/2022/01/t...soil-criticizes-allies-over-olympics-boycott/
The Turkish government has not been giving detailed or satisfying information to the public about its relations with China for a while now. Ankara, which is increasingly dependent on China economically, is silent about the human rights violations of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Nordic Monitor research has found details Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has neglected to mention about his trip to Beijing last week, when Turkey reassured China that Xinjiang-related issues will not pose a threat to bilateral relations.
Çavuşoğlu paid a visit to China on January 12. The entire official statement made by the Turkish side regarding the visit consists of two sentences.
“At the meeting, bilateral relations and regional issues were discussed, and economic cooperation opportunities were evaluated. On the other hand, our views, expectations and sensitivities regarding the issues on our agenda, especially the Uyghur Turks were also conveyed,” a statement from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads. Çavuşoğlu also shared the same passage on Twitter.
The full statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website regarding Çavuşoğlu’s trip to China.
However, unlike the Turkish side, the Chinese issued a broad official statement about what was discussed during the visit. In a statement on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website on January 12, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed that he had diplomatically given Çavuşoğlu a message not to interfere in China’s internal affairs.
“I have the following hopes for both sides. First, support each other in safeguarding respective sovereignty, security and development interests. Second, abide by non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, a basic norm of international relations. Third, not participate in activities against each other on international occasions. Fourth, strengthen communication and enhance mutual understanding on cognitive differences in issues such as history and ethnic groups through bilateral channels,” Wang told Çavuşoğlu, according to the ministry statement.
The following day, answering a question about Çavuşoğlu’s visit from Shenzhen TV at a regular press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin again conveyed the details of the meeting with Çavuşoğlu.
“Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said that the Turkish side is committed to the one-China principle and will not allow violent terrorist acts targeting China or anti-China activities that harm China’s territorial integrity on Turkish soil. The Turkish side never uses Xinjiang-related issues as a tool against China and has long designated the ETIM (East Turkistan Islamic Movement) as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in Turkey,” spokesperson Wang told reporters.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his two-day official visit to China in 2015 stated that he had long considered the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) a terrorist organization. Apart from that, Turkey has not made any official statement about whether it considers ETIM a terrorist organization or not.
In 2020 the US removed ETIM from its terrorist list on the basis that “there has been no credible evidence that ETIM continues to exist.” China accused the US of double standards, while Washington contends that the label has been broadly misused to oppress Muslims, including ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang….
