Turkey: Uighur exiles living in fear in Turkey

The Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, most of whom are Muslim. Many have fled to Turkey as they have much in common with Turks culturally, and Turkey's government has promoted their migration for years. Today, the country's hosts the largest community in the Uighur diaspora.

"I was scared not only for myself but also my family," Abdüsükür explains his decision to leave China. "That's why I decided to flee to Turkey." But he has paid a steep price for his new life abroad, saying he has only spoken to his mother once since leaving. "Uighurs living in Turkey are prohibited [by Chinese authorities] from speaking to their relatives back home," he says. Millions of fellow Uighurs have been placed in reeducation camps, Abdüsükür says. There are no official records documenting how many have been detained, though some estimates put the figure at several hundred thousand.

Read more at: Uighur exiles living in fear in Turkey | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 28.02.2021

Canada-China relations: MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide

The House of Commons today accused the Chinese government of carrying out a campaign of genocide against Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims.

A substantial majority of MPs — including most Liberals who participated — voted in favour of a Conservative motion that says China's actions in its western Xinjiang region meet the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.

The final tally was 266 in favour and zero opposed. Two MPs formally abstained.

Read more at: MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide | CBC News

China - Human Rights: China′s systematic tracking, arrests of Uighurs exposed in new Xinjiang leak

 In May 2017, a Uighur man was taken away to a "re-education camp" in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

As an observant Muslim, the man prayed at home after meals, and sometimes attended Friday prayers at his local mosque. The reasons for his forced internment: His wife had covered her face with a veil and the couple had "too many" children. There was never a trial.

According to a newly leaked document from Xinjiang, the man underwent a "great ideological transformation" in the camp and "realized his mistakes and showed good repentance." The family's four boys and two girls back at home all demonstrated "good behavior."

In June 2017, however, their mother was sent to prison for six years. She was charged with participating in an "illegal religious activity."

This family's story is similar to hundreds of cases, which are listed in unprecedented detail.
The leak provides information on why people are detained, while revealing that Chinese authorities are using high-tech surveillance and sheer manpower to keep track of identities, locations and habits of individual Uighur Muslims.

The list of detainees records the fate of 311 people who were sent off to "re-education" for the most innocuous things: growing a beard, fasting, or applying for a passport.

All of them had contacts abroad, and all were put in internment camps in 2017 and 2018. The document also lists hundreds of other people connected to them, including children.

DW, together with German broadcasters NDR and WDR and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, spent weeks translating the document and analyzing the data.

Read more at: Exclusive: China′s systematic tracking, arrests of Uighurs exposed in new Xinjiang leak | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 17.02.2020

Protests in Turkey, Norway,Germany,the Netherlands and France in support of Uighur community in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang

EU-Digest

Protests in Turkey, Norway,Germany,the Netherlands and France in support of Uighur community in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang

Several hundred Uighur and Turkish demonstrators rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Ankara as a group of protesters tried to break through a line of Turkish police in riot gear to approach the embassy. This led to brief scuffles with police. No injuries were reported. Demonstrators also hurled eggs at the embassy building and held up banners calling for an end to Chinese aggression against Uighurs. In Istanbul some 100 protesters who gathered outside the Chinese Consulate set a Chinese flag on fire. In Norway 100 ethnic Uighurs waving their national flag gathered outside China's Embassy in Oslo, demanding that China end violence and ethnic discrimination in Xinjiang. Two people were injured in the protest — one while trying to jump over the embassy fence. A total of 11 demonstrators were detained, according to Oslo police spokesman Oystein Roraas. In the Netherlands about 150 Xinjiang separatists supporters launched protests at the Chinese embassy and hurled stones and eggs at the embassy complex. A number of the protesters were also seen carrying knives and burning China's national flag during the demonstration. Some protesters tried climbing over the embassy fence but this failed. The embassy said it had demanded that the Dutch Foreign Ministry and police tighten security around the area, but only a few police officers showed up when the violence broke out. In Germany, police said fire bombs were thrown at the Chinese consulate in the southern German city of Munich during the early hours of Monday, causing some damage to the facade and setting fire to the Chinese flag. In France, the Uighur community demonstrated in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Uighurs are originally Turkic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia. Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that he will ask the UN Security Council to issue a resolution to end the violence in China's Xinjiang area.

EUbusiness: China - EU parliament head urges China to respect rights amid unrest

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China - EU parliament head urges China to respect rights amid unrest

The president of the European parliament, Hans Gert Poettering, called on Chinese authorities Monday to respect human rights, as ethnic protests and violence rock the Xinjiang region. "The news which is emerging of how these protests have been handled is deeply disturbing," he said in a statement. "I appeal to all sides for calm and restraint."

"I explicitly appeal to the Chinese authorities to act in a manner that fully respects human dignity and fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration," he said. "I also appeal to the Chinese authorities to allow local and international media to carry out their work in full freedom, including unrestricted access to the Internet," he added.

Todays Zaman: Turkish minister says an urgent investigation should be launched into the Xinjiang events

For the compTurkish minister says an urgent investigation should be launched into the Xinjiang eventslete report from Todays Zaman click on this link

Turkish minister says an urgent investigation should be launched into the Xinjiang events

Turkish State Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç expressed hope that an urgent investigation would be launched into the events in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to an extent that would not harm the relations between Turkey and the People's Republic of China. "There have been very good relations between governments and parliaments of Turkey and China. Also, Uighur Turks have constituted a bridge of friendship between our countries. But now, we are face to face with such dreadful events. We are profoundly sorry that some furious people threatened innocent people by using extreme force," he said.

Nasdaq: EU Presidency Urges Restraint In Restive China Region

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EU Presidency Urges Restraint In Restive China Region

The European Union called Tuesday for restraint on all sides in China's restive Xinjiang region. "The E.U. expresses its strong concern over the unrest," the bloc's Swedish presidency said in a statement. "The E.U. calls for restraint on all sides and for the situation to be resolved peacefully."

"The E.U. stresses the importance it attaches to all human rights, including the freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly," the presidency said, noting that the bloc "continues to follow developments closely".

CNN/EU-Digest: China: Major mosques close in Urumqi

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Major mosques close in Urumqi

Five major mosques near the center of violence last weekend in Urumqi, the capital of China's far-west Xinjiang region, were closed Friday morning, state-run media reported. "Mosques in some sensitive areas were closed at their imams' suggestion," an official in charge of religious affairs with the Xinjiang regional government said Friday. "Muslims normally perform rituals at home in time of plague or social unrest." Friday is the main day of worship for Muslims.

Note EU-Digest: AFP reported that thousands of fearful people poured into bus and train stations to escape China's Urumqi city after the deadly ethnic unrest, as several mosques were ordered shut for the main Muslim day of prayer today. Authorities said they had put on extra bus services out of the capital of China's remote Xinjiang region, but demand far outstripped seats and scalpers told AFP they were charging up to five times the normal face price for tickets. The Chinese government said 156 people were killed and more than 1,000 others injured, as Uighurs attacked people from China's dominant Han ethnic group. But Uighur exiles said security forces over-reacted to peaceful protests and used deadly force. They said up to 800 people may have died in the unrest, following the security crackdown.