Some who think the Turkish government is not taking necessary steps to end the atrocities perpetrated against our Uighur brothers say Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who engaged in a confrontation with Israeli President Shimon Peres over the atrocities perpetrated by Israel against Gazans during a meeting in Davos early this year, has failed to show a similarly strong reaction to the Chinese government in a bid to stand up for our ethnic brothers. Others say the circumstances differ greatly in the two crises and it is not right to expect Turkey to act the same way. However, there are increasing calls for Turkey to use all of its diplomatic means to help stop the Uighur massacre.According to Bugün's Erhan Başyurt, it is not right to expect Turkey to react to the Uighur massacre in the same way it reacted to Israel's massacre of Gazans early this year because the circumstances in the two cases differ greatly. “Israel is a Middle Eastern country with a population of 6 million. Gaza, which is under occupation, is on former Ottoman Empire soil and is inhabited by Muslims. Turkey is interested in the region for many reasons and is making intense efforts to find a solution to the Middle East crisis. Turkey has historical ties with both Palestine and Israel. Is it possible to say the same thing for China? No. First of all, East Turkestan is officially Chinese soil as the Xinjiang autonomous region. The United Nations accepts this. Secondly, Uighurs are officially citizens of China. This means the crisis in China does not resemble the crisis in Gaza,” explains Başyurt. In addition to these points, he says Turkey does not have sufficient commercial and political relations with China to impose pressure on it to end its tyranny. Regarding what Turkey can do to stop the violence against Uighurs in China, he says Turkey can deliver a message to China without exceeding the boundaries of diplomacy and can voice its reactions orally in the frame of standing up for human rights. However, he warns that Turkey acting as the guardian of the Uighurs may place the Uighurs in a more difficult situation in the region and make them a more of a target in China. He also suggests that Turkey can bring the conflict to the international institutions to which it is a party such as the United Nations Security Council, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Alliance of Civilizations in the frame of human rights issues, stressing that international condemnation will be more effective in China.
Sabah's Nazlı Ilıcak is among those who expect Prime Minister Erdoğan, who won hearts in Turkey with his Davos move, to exhibit a similar reaction towards Chinese President Hu Jintao over the Chinese atrocities against the Uighurs. “Why doesn't Erdoğan react strongly to China? Are we afraid of spoiling relations with China? OK, didn't everyone think Turkey's relations with Israel would be damaged after Erdoğan's Davos move? East Turkestan is bleeding. Turkey cannot remain indifferent to the sufferings of its ancestral lands,” says Ilıcak.
Yeni Şafak's Akif Emre, who says two civilizations are confronting each other in East Turkestan, thinks the conflict is not simply about an occupying administration colonizing a weak community and invading its land. “We are faced with China's efforts to assimilate a public that is the representative of Islamic culture as it readies to emerge as a global power,” says Emre.
