ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey called on Chinese ambassador on Tuesday after its embassy said it had a “right to respond” to Turkish opposition leaders who criticized China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims when they made statements about violence. by three decades.
Politicians, IYI party leader Meral Aksener and Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas of the main opposition CHP have marked what they called the 31st anniversary of a brief Uyghur uprising against the government in the far west of China.
“We will not remain silent about their persecution and martyrdom,” Aksener said on Twitter. Yavas said: “We still feel the pain of the massacre” in 1990.
Ambassador Liu Shaobin was summoned to the ministry after his embassy issued a statement on Twitter denouncing the comments.
“The Chinese side strongly opposes any person in power who in any way challenges China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and strongly condemns this,” the embassy said.
“The Chinese side reserves the legitimate right to respond.”
China has been subjected to control over the treatment of its Uighur minority, a predominantly Turkish-speaking Muslim people. China has denied Uighur abuse.
UN experts estimate that at least one million Uighurs 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 Uyghurs.
Many of Turkey’s 40,000 Uighurs have criticized the government’s approach to China after approving an extradition treaty in December, which it fears could be sent back to China to face vague allegations it denies.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that some people in Turkey are encouraging terrorists and separatism in China with their remarks on Twitter.
“We hope that the people of Turkey from all walks of life can see correctly, rationally and objectively China’s firm position to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he told a daily news conference in Beijing.
Hundreds of people protested when China’s foreign minister visited Ankara last month.
Aksener and Yavas are seen as potential rivals for President Tayyip Erdogan in the 2023 elections.
Reporting by Yesim Dikmen and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by Gabriel Crossley in Beijing; written by Jonathan Spicer; edited by Ece Toksabay and Philippa Fletcher