ANKARA/URUMQI, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
Urumqi is the capital of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It has a population close to 3 million, its tower blocks rise above the streets like many other recently developed Chinese cities, the often snow-capped Tian Shan mountains providing a natural backdrop to its south.
For two weeks, however, the region's Muslim population has been the focus of cries from the streets of a country a long way away, some of them so loud that they have created ripples as far away as Azerbaijan, The Hague and New York.
In a statement released June 30, Turkey's Foreign Ministry expressed "deep concern" to China about reports that Beijing had instilled a fasting ban on segments of its Uighur Muslim population during the holy month of Ramadan.
"It has been publicly heard with sorrow that there are reports of the fasting and fulfilling of religious duties by Uighur Turks being banned," it stated.
As anti-China protests followed, Beijing declared its discomfort, its Foreign Ministry seeking to underline that Beijing does not discriminate against its Muslim population as the crowds had been claiming.
"Uighur are one of the 56 ethnic minorities in China. More than 10 million Uighur Turks are living happily and peacefully," spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters.
She said that Beijing had absolutely no issue with Uighur Turks, saying that "foreign media" had got it wrong.
In the past week, two Anadolu Agency correspondents have been visiting the region, which has been veiled in a cloak of security since China’s central government launched an "anti-terrorism" campaign - focusing on Xinjiang -- on May 23 last year.
The drive came after an attack in Urumqi left 39 people dead and more than 90 others wounded at a marketplace.
Such incidents have continued throughout the year, with Radio Free Asia just two weeks ago reporting that ethnic Uighur had "attacked a police post" with "knives and bombs" in Kasghar's Tahtakoruk district, killing more than 19 people.
China describes such acts as "terrorism," and has stiffed up security measures.
Security forces keep guard at many intersections with automatic weapons, taking photographs or shooting videos is frowned upon, and those on the streets scurry around, looking worried, appearing ever-anxious, making it very hard to take pictures.
The restrictions are so strict that male passengers are not even allowed to sit upfront with taxi drivers during rides.
And people would rather not answer questions.
Asked "are you allowed to fast," many of the local Muslim population simply do not want to comment on the issue.
Looking around, there are no public banners or posters proclaiming a "fasting ban." On the contrary, those who do respond say they can fast, although in brief, curt answers.
Posters referring to Islam, however, do exist, but they simply state that religious marriage ceremonies, divorces, praying, fasting, or offering guidance on how to read the Quran to students and the under aged should not be encouraged
The banners also say that it is considered a crime to spread "extreme-religious ideologies" by using terms like "haram” (forbidden) and "halal” (allowed).
Mosques also exist, many of them packed with young and old.
In the Kuruk Bridge Mosque in the center of Urumqi, Muslims can be seen during midday prayers, children and their elders happily reading the Muslim holy book,
Many of them are bearded - a swift riposte to reports that international authorities have restricted Muslim men from having long beards.
In the oasis city of Kashgar, near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan where the Uighur population dominates, security is even more apparent.
With police checkpoints at high-roads and bridges, around ten policemen stand guard on every major street, and people scurry past to avoid being caught in photos around the city's Id Kah Mosque - China's largest - where most shops are located.
The mosque was built by Saqsiz Mirza in 1442, can accommodate up to 20,000 worshippers, and on 30 July 2014, its imam Jume Tahir was stabbed to death shortly after attending morning prayers.
The 74-year-old had been an official with the state-run Xinjiang Islamic Association, and a particularly divisive figure among the country's 10 million Uighur. Frequently quoted in state media, he was considered a reliable supporter of restrictions on so-called unlawful religious practices.
When asked about such restrictions, Kashgarians are more responsive than their Urumqi peers, revealing that there is a fasting ban, but only among those who work for state institutions.
Since 1949, Chinese state institutions have been governed by the Communist Party of China (CPP) - in theory, an atheist institution that prohibits its nearly 90 million members from holding religious beliefs.
According to the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), it has always demanded the expulsion of party members who belong to religious organizations.
"Officials have said that party membership and religious beliefs are incompatible, and they discourage the family of CCP members from publicly participating in religious ceremonies," a CFR backgrounder states.
"Though China’s constitution explicitly allows 'freedom of religious belief,' adherents across all religious organizations, from state-sanctioned to underground and banned groups, still face persecution and repression."
On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry sought to underline that Beijing does not discriminate against its Muslim population as protesters have been claiming.
Under the terms of the Council of Foreign Relations, it doesn't - it treats Muslims the same as its many Buddhists, Christians, Catholics, Daoists, and Protestants - it discriminates against them all.
Human Rights Watch China director Sophie Richardson has said that while religious belief in China is protected by the constitution, the measures “do not guarantee the right to practice or worship.”
She adds that religious practices are limited to “normal religious activities,” though “normal” is left undefined and can be broadly interpreted.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has told reporters that Turkey is closely following the Uighur issue.
"They are important to us, we declare our connection with them in every occasion. We also let the Chinese officials know that it is very natural for us to react against a human rights violation there when it happens," he said.
China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region -- home to many ethnic minority groups, including Uighur Turks -- is predominantly known as East Turkestan in Turkey.
In mid-June, it was widely reported that China had banned fasting in parts of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for party members, civil servants, students and teachers.
It is also reported to have restricted men from having long beards, clamped down on religious education activities, and acted to control the entrances and exits to mosques.
Many Turks believe that Uighur are among a number of Turkic tribes that inhabit China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and consider it to be part of Central Asia, not China.
The Uighur have accused China of carrying out repressive policies that restrain their religious, commercial and cultural activities.
* Anadolu Agency correspondent Satuk Bugra Kutlugun contributed to this report from Ankara
