“Cut the crap. You must first stop the genocide against Uyghurs”
Turkey affiliated handle on Twitter.
Turkey summons the Chinese Ambassador to Foreign Ministry to give a dressing down over social media post that targeted Turkish opposition about Uyghurs. The Uyghurs, alternatively spelt Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Chinese government-sponsored a mass migration of Han Chinese to the region and introduced several policies that were designed to suppress the cultural identity and religion of the Uyghurs.
A Foreign Ministry official said the ambassador was summoned to the ministry on Tuesday but did not elaborate. The official provided the information on the condition of anonymity in line with the ministry’s rules.
Earlier Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy tagged Meral Aksener, the head of the opposition Good Party, and Ankara’s mayor, Mansur Yavas, in two Twitter posts in which it defended Beijing’s policies and said: “the Chinese side reserves its right to a rightful response.”
The comment was widely interpreted as a threat against the two politicians and caused a social media outrage in Turkey.
The embassy tagged Aksener and Yavas after the two marked with Twitter posts the killing of Uyghurs by Chinese forces during an uprising in 1990.
The embassy said: “The Chinese side resolutely opposes and strongly condemns any challenge by any person or power to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Turks are sympathetic to the Uyghurs, a Turkic group native to China’s Xinjiang region. Many Uyghurs have sought refuge in Turkey for decades because of their shared cultural ties.
Once a champion of the Uyghur cause, Turkey’s government has become less vocal about its plight in recent years as it has developed stronger economic ties with China.
Hillarious Turkish nationalist IYI party response to Chinese Embassy:
“Cut the crap. You must first stop the genocide against Uyghurs”.
With source and inputs from Associated Press, Wikipedia, Social media, Turkish and Chinese government statements.
