The Foreign Ministry yesterday released a statement saying Turkey was deeply concerned about the large number of deaths during the riots. The statement said Turkey expected that those responsible for the incidents would be found and punished in the shortest possible time. “We believe that the People's Republic of China, quickly on its way to being a stable welfare country, will take the necessary measures to prevent the occurrence of such events in the future.”
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey was watching the developments in the autonomous Uighur region with concern.
Associations, political parties and other organizations in Turkey have protested China's treatment of the Uighur community. In a statement he made on Monday, Felicity Party (SP) leader Numan Kurtulmuş called on the authorities to take the necessary measures to draw international attention to the plight of the Uighurs.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also issued a statement, saying the Turkish nation has been greatly worried and saddened by the “attacks and massacres directed at our Turkic brothers.” He also said that it was “meaningful” and “thought provoking” that the violence comes only days after a visit to China by President Abdullah Gül.
A protest was held in İstanbul, organized by the members of the ultra-nationalist Alperen Ocakları group. A group of about 500 people marched to the Chinese Consulate in İstanbul from the Sarıyer coast, where they gathered.
 The killings of ethnic Turkic Uighurs at the hands of Chinese forces have caused outrage in many countries, including Turkey, where a large group of protestors condemned the killings at a demonstration held in front of the Chinese Embassy in Ankara yesterday. |
In a press statement he read after the protesters stopped about 100 meters in front of the consulate, Alperen Ocakları İstanbul President Mustafa Kayatuzu appealed the protesters to boycott Chinese products.
The Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD) released a statement calling on investors to refrain from doing business with China. The Turkish Education Personnel Union (Türk Eğitim-Sen) called on the government to act and asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to tell China “one minute,” a phrase the prime minister used in January at an international summit in the Swiss city of Davos as part of a larger reaction to Israeli violence in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) yesterday released a statement announcing that a Turkish-China Business Forum was held yesterday following President Abdullah Gül's visit to that country. DEİK's statement said 23 Chinese firms attended the forum, and six agreements worth $56 million in total were signed during the event.
Uighurs residing in Turkey also expressed their opinions on the recent incidents. Independent Eastern Turkestan Union head Abdülmecit Avşar called on Turkey, the US and the UN to act. “Big states and peace organizations should urgently act to stop this massacre. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should do the same as he did in Davos against Israeli atrocities in Palestine and say ‘one minute' to China, which is murdering our brothers.”
People from the region, also referred to as Eastern Turkestan, who live in Turkey are watching the Chinese violence against the Uighur Turks with terror. In Yeni Mahalle, a neighborhood in Kayseri where families from Eastern Turkestan who migrated 60 years ago have settled, silence prevails.
Avşar said China has been conducting policies to assimilate members of Eastern Turkestan since 1949. “Girls are being forced to marry Chinese men, those who don't want to marry these men, are tortured,” recounting acts of violence by Chinese security forces imposed on Uighurs since late June. “What the Chinese police and soldiers are doing is genocide.”
He also claimed that the official figures that have been circulated in the news are greatly less than the real figures, asserting that thousands have been massacred. “We know that 3,000 have died in the past six months. We should also not forget acts of harassment toward our girls and women. We can't take this anymore. We will fight for independence until the last drop of our blood.”
Benzer Haberler 
National
