BEIJING (AP) – Abdullah Metseydi, a Uighur in Turkey, was getting ready for bed last month when he heard a commotion and then knocked on the door. “Police! Open the door! “
A dozen or so agents were dumped, many carrying weapons and carrying the camouflage of Turkey’s anti-terrorist force. They asked if Metseydi had been involved in any movement against China and threatened to deport him and his wife. He was taken to a deportation center, where he is now at the center of a political controversy that is taking place.
Opposition lawmakers in Turkey accuse Ankara leaders of secretly selling Uighurs in China in exchange for coronavirus vaccines. Tens of millions of vials of promised Chinese vaccines have not yet been delivered. Meanwhile, in recent months, Turkish police have assaulted and detained nearly 50 Uyghurs in deportation centers, according to lawyers, a sharp rise last year.
While no compelling evidence of a quid pro quo has yet emerged, these lawmakers and Uyghurs fear that Beijing will use vaccines as a lever to win the deal for an extradition. The treaty was signed years ago, but was suddenly ratified by China in December and could be presented to Turkish lawmakers as early as this month.
Uighurs say the bill, once it was law, could bring its ultimate nightmare: deportation to a country where they fled to avoid mass arrest. More than a million Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minorities have been razed in China’s prisons and detention camps, in what China calls an anti-terrorism measure, but the United States has declared genocide.
“I am terrified of being deported,” said Melike, Metseydi’s wife, in tears, who refused to give her last name for fear of retribution. “I’m worried about my husband’s mental health.”
Suspicions of a deal arose when the first shipment of Chinese vaccines was suspended for weeks in December. Officials blamed the permitting issues.
But even now, Yildirim Kaya, a legislator for Turkey’s main opposition party, said China only delivered a third of the 30 million doses it promised in late January. Turkey relies heavily on China’s Sinovac vaccine to immunize its population against the virus, which has infected about 2.5 million and killed more than 26,000.
“It simply came to our notice then. We paid for these vaccines, “Kaya said.” Is China blackmailing Turkey? “
Kaya said he formally asked the Turkish government about pressure from China, but has not yet received a response.
Both the Turkish and Chinese authorities insist that the extradition bill is not intended to direct the Uyghurs into deportation. Chinese state media described these concerns as “discredited” and Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denied any connection between the vaccines and the treaty.
“I think your speculation is unfounded,” Wang said at a news conference Thursday.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December that the vaccine delay was unrelated to the Uyghur issue.
“We don’t use Uighurs for political purposes, we defend their human rights,” Cavusoglu said.
But while very few have been deported so far, recent arrests have caused a chill in Turkey’s upper Uighur community, which is estimated to have 50,000 inhabitants. And in recent weeks, the Turkish ambassador to Beijing has praised China’s vaccines while adding that Ankara values ”judicial cooperation” with China. – code, many Uyghurs fear, for possible repression.
In the past, a small number of Uighurs had traveled to Syria to train with militants. But most Uighurs in Turkey avoid jihadists and worry they will harm the Uyghur cause.
Lawyers representing the detained Uyghurs say that in most cases, Turkish police have no evidence of links to terrorist groups. Ankara law professor Ilyas Dogan believes the arrests have political motivation.
“They have no concrete evidence,” said Dogan, who represents six Uighurs now in deportation centers, including Metseydi. “They’re not serious.”
Even if the bill is ratified, Dogan doubts there will be mass deportations, given the great public sympathy for Uighurs in Turkey. But he believes the chances of being deported would increase significantly.
Due to shared cultural ties, Turkey has long been a safe haven for Uighurs, a Turkish group originally from the Chinese region of the far west of Xinjiang. Turkish President Recep Erdogan denounced China’s treatment of Uyghurs as “genocide” more than a decade ago.
Everything changed with a coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, which sparked a massive purge and drove Erdogan away from Western governments. China, which is lending and investing billions in Turkey, was waiting to fill the gap.
They are signs of strong economic ties, small and large: an exporter with business in China was appointed Turkish ambassador to Beijing. A $ 1.7 billion China-funded coal plant is being built on the shores of Turkey’s Mediterranean Sea. Istanbul Airport obtained the world’s first certification as the world’s “Chinese Friendly Airport”, booking check-in counters to receive thousands of tourists from Shanghai and Beijing. And President Erdogan’s ardent rhetoric has become deaf and diplomatic, praising Chinese leaders for their help.
China also began requesting the extradition of many more Uighurs from Turkey. In a 2016 extradition request leaked for the first time by Axios and obtained independently by The Associated Press, Chinese officials demanded the extradition of a former Uyghur mobile phone salesman, accusing him of promoting the Islamic State terrorist group online. The seller was arrested, but was eventually released and removed from office.
Abdurehim Parac, an Uyghur poet detained twice in recent years, said even detention in Turkey was “hotelier” compared to the “hellish” conditions he was subjected to for three years in Chinese prison. Imim was finally released after a judge cleared his name. But he has difficulty sleeping at night for fear that the extradition bill will be ratified, and called the pressure “unbearable.”
“Death awaits me in China,” he said.
Growing fears are already causing an influx of Uyghurs to move to Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries. Some are so desperate that they even sneak across borders illegally, said Ali Kutad, who fled China to Turkey in 2016.
“Turkey is our second homeland,” Kutad said. “We’re very scared.”
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Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul contributed to this report. Fraser reported from Ankara.