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Ankara oddly quiet on China's alleged torture of Uighurs

The Turkish public used to speak out loudly and often against suppressive Chinese policies against Uighur Turks, but now the media, the public and the government are keeping mum.

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A demonstrator, wearing a mask painted with the colors of the flag of East Turkestan and a hand bearing the colors of the Chinese flag, attends a protest in support of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority in front of the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, July 5, 2018. — OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images

Over the past few weeks there have been widespread reports of systemic Chinese oppression of as many as 1 million Uighur Turks living in China’s Xinjiang region, and allegations that members of this mostly Muslim ethnic minority are forcefully confined to concentration camps for “re-education and de-radicalization.”

Academics, journalists and opinion-makers in many countries frequently bring up the issue on social media, but strangely, the Turkish government, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ultranationalist ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) appear to be ignoring the problem. The Turkish media also appear deaf and mute.

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