ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey called on China’s ambassador on Tuesday after its embassy said it had “the right to respond” to opposition leaders who criticized China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims three decades ago. .
Politicians, IYI party leader Meral Aksener, and Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas of the main opposition CHP had marked what they called the 31st anniversary of a brief Uighur revolt against the Uyghur government. ‘extreme west of China.
Aksener said on Twitter that “we will not keep quiet about his persecution” and his martyrdom. Yavas said he “still feels the pain of the massacre” in 1990.
Ambassador Liu Shaobin was summoned to the ministry after his embassy tweeted a statement in response.
“The Chinese side strongly opposes anyone in power who can in any way challenge China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and strongly condemns it,” he said. “The Chinese side reserves the legitimate right to respond.”
Many of Turkey’s 40,000 Uyghurs have criticized the government’s approach to Beijing after China approved an extradition treaty in December, fearing it could bring them back to China to face vague denial allegations.
Hundreds protested as China’s foreign minister visited Ankara last month.
UN experts estimate that at least one million Uyghurs and other Muslims are being held in detention centers in northwest China’s Xinjiang. The United States said in January that China had committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by cracking down on Uighurs.
Aksener and Yavas are seen as potential rivals for President Tayyip Erdogan in the 2023 elections.
Reports by Yesim Dikmen and Tuvan Gumrukcu; writing by Jonathan Spicer; edition by Ece Toksabay and Philippa Fletcher