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Turkish PM to visit Uighur region during four-day China trip: This will be Erdogan’s first visit to China as the prime minister of Turkey

World Bulletin, 30 March 2012

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a visit to China between April 7 and 11.

Erdogan will begin his visit to China from “Xinjiang” Uyghur Autonomous Region.

This will be Erdogan’s first visit to China as the prime minister of Turkey. Erdogan visited China in 2003 as the chairman of the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party.

The Chinese government is getting prepared for Erdogan’s visit. The prime minister is expected to be accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen.

This visit is interpreted as normalization of Turkish-Chinese relations, which had become tense due to incidents in Uyghur Autonomous Region in July 1009.

Erdogan will proceed to Beijing after visiting Uighur region, and hold high-level meetings. Shanghai will be Erdogan’s last stop in China.

Lu Jian, an executive of West Asian and North African Affairs Department of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Friday that Turkey and China should have a more to say in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank as their economies had developed and they had more influence on world economy.

“If we take joint action in these organizations, we can be more influential. Chinese-Turkish strategic cooperation should cover all these areas,” Lu told AA correspondent in Beijing.

Lu said Turkey’s influence on regional issues had increased, and China wanted to cooperate with Turkey in those areas.

The Chinese executive expressed belief that Turkey and China would sign agreements during Premier Erdogan’s visit.

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