Zuhal Demirci
February 17, 2021•Update: February 17, 2021
ANKARA
Responding to recent demonstrations by Uighur Turks outside China's diplomatic missions in Turkey, the Chinese Embassy has claimed that people of all ethnic groups have unrestricted contact with their relatives in the region of Xinjiang in the country's northwest.
In a written statement on Tuesday, the embassy took note of the demonstrations in the capital Ankara and Istanbul by Uighur Turks demanding to know about the condition of their family members that they believe are being held in Chinese camps.
Asserting that the Chinese law protects individual freedoms and freedom of communication, the statement advised Uighurs who were unable to reach their relatives in East Turkistan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, to seek help from diplomatic staff.
It said the embassy and consulate have been providing assistance to many Uighur Turks facing such difficulties, accusing the demonstrators, who had gathered in recent weeks outside the country's diplomatic missions, of being incited by anti-China forces.
Protests
In the protests, dozens of Uighurs complained of not having heard from their family members for years due to Beijing's alleged systematic campaign involving the confinement of members of the ethnic minority in concentration and forced labor camps in China.
Members of the minority group in Istanbul and Ankara had called on the world to speak out against what they called crimes against humanity and take action to stop Uighur persecution.
Beijing's policy against Uighurs has drawn widespread criticism from rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which accuse it of ostracizing over 10 million members of the minority group, most of whom are Muslims.
A 2018 Human Rights Watch report detailed a Chinese government campaign of "mass arbitrary detention, torture, forced political indoctrination, and mass surveillance of Xinjiang's Muslims."
China, however, has repeatedly denied allegations that it is operating detention camps in its northwestern autonomous region, claiming instead that they are "re-educating" Uighurs.
Vocational training centers
The embassy's statement went on to note that in establishing what it called "vocational training centers" in Xinjiang for its re-education efforts, China had benefited from the practices of other countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Comparing these facilities to community correction systems in the US, the UK and France, it accused Western media outlets reporting on Xinjiang of seeking to suppress and defame China.
The statement also urged members of the Turkish press to come to visit the region, located in northwestern China, and witness the conditions there first-hand.
Uighurs make up around 45% of Xinjiang's population and have long accused China's authorities of cultural, religious and economic discrimination.
China has stepped up its restrictions on the region in recent years, banning men from growing beards and women from wearing veils and introducing what many experts see as the world's most extensive electronic surveillance program, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Up to 1 million people, or about 7% of the Muslim population in Xinjiang, have been incarcerated in an expanding network of “political re-education” camps, according to US officials and UN experts.
*Writing by Merve Berker
