Last week, a delegation representing Islamic countries around the world arrived in far west China. The Saudi-based OIC, whose membership includes 57 countries, has aimed at “observing firsthand the conditions of Muslims” in Xinjiang, the conference said in a statement on its Web site.
Al-Masri, advisor of OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu on Muslim minorities, speaking to Turkish reporters in Beijing, stated that the incidents of violence could not be solely explained by provocation resulting from interference by external forces, the Cihan news agency reported.
There are major economic problems in the region, al-Masri said, adding that Chinese officials also admitted the presence of economic discrepancy and that it was the result of rapid economic movement. He also noted that OIC Secretary-General İhsanoğlu was expected to pay a visit to the region shortly. Last month's rioting was the worst ethnic violence in China in decades, which left 197 people dead and more than 1,700 injured. Thousands of Uighurs were detained.
China has been worried that the violence in Xinjiang could overshadow its developing ties with the Islamic world. Although the riots drew a muted response from most Muslim countries, Iran and Turkey did criticize China and the crackdown that followed.
In Turkey, thousands protested outside Chinese diplomatic missions in İstanbul and Ankara, where some burned Chinese flags and China-made goods. Turks share ethnic and cultural bonds with the Turkic-speaking Uighurs.
