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Turkey’s Erdogan Visits China Amid Tensions Over Uyghurs

Radio Free Europe, 30 July 2015

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RFE Uyghur Service  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for talks in Beijing amid tensions over China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority. The two leaders agreed on July 29 to strengthen cooperation in fighting terror and people smuggling, according to a senior Chinese diplomat.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Uyghurs, have left China in recent years, traveling to Turkey. Rights groups say the migrants are fleeing ethnic violence and Chinese controls on their religion.

The mainly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority and Turks have common linguistic, cultural, and religious ties.

China has blamed Islamist separatists for the violence in the Uyghur homeland of Xinjiang.

Turkey has expressed concerns about Beijing’s treatment of the Uighurs.

Turkey’s plan to acquire an antimissile system worth $3.4 billion, after entering discussions with a Chinese state-run company in 2013 was also expected to be on the agenda for the talks.

http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-china-erdogan-visit-uyghurs-tensions/27159289.html