“Are you the Chinese police oppressing our Uyghur brothers?” Ali Babacan, leader of the opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), said in a social media post, criticizing the Turkish police officer who recently threatened Uyghur protesters with deportation, the TR724 news website reported.
Police on Wednesday threatened Uyghurs outside the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul who were protesting the death of innocent Uyghurs in a fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, with detention and deportation to China.
Following the reaction from opposition lawmakers and parties, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu released a statement saying an investigation had been launched into the police officer over his threats.
A fire in a residential high-rise in Urumqi, where many residents have been under lockdown, set off public anger and questions about China’s zero-Covid policy. Ten people were killed and nine injured when the blaze ripped through a residential building in the regional capital of Urumqi on Thursday night, with many blaming lengthy lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts.
The protests, which began in Urumqi after the failed fire rescue, spread to other cities in China and around the world.
Uygurların zulme uğramasına sessiz kalanlar “ezilenlerin gür sesi” olduğunu iddia etmesin.
Hele zulmü protesto edenlere “Sizi süpüreceğiz” diyen adaletten falan hiç bahsetmesin.
Siz Uygur kardeşlerimize baskı uygulayan Çin polisi misiniz?
— Ali Babacan (@alibabacan) November 30, 2022
An estimated 50,000 Uyghurs are currently living in Turkey, making it the largest Uyghur diaspora in the world. They have staged daily protests outside the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul over the past few years, holding pictures of their relatives and family members with whom they lost touch for months, and even years.
China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities has drawn international condemnation, with human rights groups estimating that some 1 million Uyghurs have been arbitrarily incarcerated in a network of prison camps in Xinjiang. There have also been reports of forced sterilization, systematic torture and rape.
Beijing denies all allegations of abuse of Uyghurs and describes the camps as vocational training facilities to combat religious extremism.
Turkey has been a destination for thousands of Uyghurs fleeing China and home to a sizable Uyghur diaspora. But a Turkey-China extradition treaty signed in 2017 that is still awaiting ratification by the Turkish parliament led to fears that it could be used to target Uyghurs in Turkey.
The Uyghurs have sought refuge in Turkey because of their shared cultural ties. Turkey, however, has become less vocal about the plight of the Uyghurs in recent years as it has developed economic ties with China.
🔴 Uygurlar Sabah saatlerinde İstanbul Çin konsolosluğu önünde nöbet başlattı. Müdahaleye gelen bir Polis memuru Uygurları sınır dışı etmekle tehdit ediyor!
— Doğu Türkistan (@uygur_haber) November 30, 2022
