Is Turkish minister’s Xinjiang visit an effort to draw a line under human rights claims?
- During Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to Uygur autonomous region, Xinjiang and Turkey agree to work together on counterterrorism
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Urumqi, capital of the region, where he met Xinjiang’s regional party chief Ma Xingrui and the regional government chairman, Erkin Tuniyaz, on Wednesday.
Ma told Fidan terrorism had brought “great harm” to social stability and safety in Xinjiang, according to the official Xinjiang Daily.
“We are willing to deepen cooperation with the Turkish side to jointly combat separatism, terrorism and extremism,” Ma was quoted as saying, along with a call to expand subnational exchanges with Turkey’s regions.
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Fidan echoed the view that Turkey and China should work together to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation and pursue new progress in trade, agriculture and civil aviation, according to the Chinese statement.
He said he had observed well-developed urban facilities, social prosperity and a good protection of various ethnic cultures and languages during his visit to Xinjiang, adding that Ankara did not support or take part in anti-China activities using ethnic issues, Xinjiang Daily said.