Public angered by Turkish PM's 'genocide' accusation
- Source: Global Times
- [07:11 July 13 2009]
- Comments
On a Saturday flight from Urumqi to Kashgar, a few Uygur students from the Urumqi Medical College told Global Times reporters that they also learned about Uygur traditional medicines at the school.
The Uygurs have a strong presence in Kashgar, with signs of their culture coming in numerous forms, such as books and music.
“We don’t want the Han people to leave,” said Maimaiti Aisha, a taxi driver in Kashgar. “I usually made 250 yuan a day before the riots happened, but since then I call it a lucky day if I make only 100 yuan.”
“Ask the restaurant owners, they will tell you that Han tourists buy eight of every 10 bowls of beef noodles they cook,” Aisha said.
In response to Turkey’s criticisms, an anonymous official with the Chinese Foreign Ministry told the Global Times yesterday that “We are following up on the reactions (from Turkey) and will see how the situation develops.”
Turkey is a common destination for Uygurs who have emigrated from China, and Turkish pan-Turkic groups see the ethnic group as the easternmost frontier of Turkic ethnicity.
Calling the incident a domestic issue, China on Thursday dismissed Erdogan’s proposal to discuss the Xinjiang riots with the United Nations Security Council.
Fang Ning, a researcher at the Institute of Political Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said yesterday that the comments by the Turkish prime minister lacked facts and obscured the issue.
Kocikov Ivan Andrevichi, a professor of international relations at Moscow University, said Turkey’s accusations are rooted in the Pan-Turkism movement. Originated in the 19th century, the movement advocated a single empire composed of all Turkish ethnic groups, stretching to Tianshan Mountain in West China.
“Turkey has been the hotbed of such discussions in one way or another,” Ivan Andrevichi said. “So it’s not surprising that its leader would make such remarks.”
Kerry Brown, a senior fellow at the Asia Programme at London-based Chatham House, told the Global Times that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, so the remarks by conservative Prime Minister Erdogan weren’t surprising.
“But we cannot predict that Erdogan’s words will result in soured ties,” Brown said. “Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who recently made a visit to China, regards the economic and trade cooperation with Beijing as a key policy.”
A statement from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) said Saturday that the situation in Xinjiang is a matter of China’s internal affairs – the response the Chinese government often gives when its “internal” actions are criticized by other nations. The SCO said the measures the government is taking in accordance with the country’s laws can restore peace and order in the region.