Turkey's tough stance on Uighurs has implications for Syria
The Turkish foreign minister promised China to put an end to anti-China activities in Turkey and in the region, which means terminating support to Uighur militants.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's trip to China on Aug. 3-4 ended with a major fracture in Turkey’s East Turkistan and Uighur policies when Turkey promised to do its utmost to eradicate anti-China forces in Turkey.
Unhindered passage of Uighurs affiliated with the East Turkistan Islamic Movement — which China considers to be a terror organization — to join the war in Syria via Turkey had caused tensions in Ankara’s ties with Beijing.
While China blamed Turkey for allowing Uighurs to reach Syria, some of the Uighurs escaping from China were apprehended with fake Turkish passports. These Uighurs eventually angered Ankara by joining the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria, dominated locally by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra).
In his joint press conference with Cavusoglu, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, “Minister Cavusoglu told us China’s security is also Turkey’s security and they would not permit any anti-China activities in his country. Moreover, he said Turkey had included East Turkish Islamic Movement on the terror list. China appreciates this stand of Turkey.” The Turkish minister told the same press conference, “We don’t allow any anti-Chinese activity in Turkey and also in our region.”
