3 yıl önce

Turkey conveys 'sensitivity' about Uighurs to Chinese minister

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meets with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on 50th anniversary of Ankara and Beijing establishing diplomatic ties.

AFP

Turkish Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) during their meeting in Ankara on March 25, 2021.

Turkey has raised the issue of Uighur Muslims during talks with China's foreign minister in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.

China approved an extradition treaty with Turkey in December and with the deal awaiting ratification by Ankara's parliament, activists among some 40,000 Uighurs living in Turkey have stepped up efforts to highlight their plight, holding regular protests in Ankara and Istanbul.

Cavusoglu, who has denied that the extradition accord will lead to Uighurs being sent back to China, said after meeting Wang Yi he had conveyed "our sensitivity and thoughts on Uighur Turks."

China has repeatedly denied allegations that it is operating detention camps in its northwestern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, home to the Uighur community, saying instead that it is "re-educating" Uighurs.

Discussed potential of economic cooperation w/ FM Wang Yi of #China on 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.
-Will enhance our cooperation on fight against pandemic and vaccine.
-Conveyed our sensitivity and thoughts on Uyghur Turks. 🇹🇷🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/fVdLLtgAey
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) March 25, 2021

Cooperation on vaccine

Cavusoglu also said that Ankara and Beijing will enhance cooperation against the Covid-19 pandemic and on vaccines.

Turkey is using the Chinese firm Sinovac's CoronaVac jab in its inoculation effort and is currently negotiating new deliveries.

Wang also met privately with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit coinciding with a spike in new virus infections that follows an easing of restrictions at the start of the month.