Turkey Now Silent on Chinese Torment of Uighurs
After the United Nations voiced human rights concerns in early August, considerable attention has been devoted to the reports that millions of Muslim Uighurs are being held in mass detention camps in the Xinjiang region of China. Independent groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have presented evidence of widespread torture and mass imprisonment of the Uighurs, with most individuals being held indefinitely without any formal charges. While previously vocal about Chinese abuses, the Turkish government and people are now silent, seemingly ignoring the issue.
The Uighurs, a Muslim minority that are ethnically considered Turks, used to draw support from Turkey in their struggle against oppressive policies. Harsh Chinese security policies have included restrictions on Uighurs’ movement into and out of the Xinjiang region and penalties on the public practice of Islam, including wearing long veils or sporting traditionally long beards. Such policies, which persecute the approximately 22 million Uighur Turks living in Xinjiang, have sparked public protests in Ankara and Istanbul in the past, as well as widespread Turkish media coverage of the plight. Today, however, the Turkish government and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are silent. There have been no protests since the UN voiced concerns, and the Turkish media has rarely, if ever, mentioned the issue.
The silence of Turkey’s leaders is surprising because Turkey’s former president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, used to speak out against similar reports when he served as Prime Minister in 2009. For a country that some Uighurs still hope can be “a defender of the Uighur cause,” the lack of response leaves reason to wonder what has caused Turkey to so dramatically alter its public position on these abuses.
Financial instability is the most probable reason for Turkey’s lack of support for the Uighurs. Turkey’s economy has been suffering since the failed coup d'etat in 2016. New sanctions implemented by the United States in August led to the collapse of the Turkish lira, stirring fears that foreign capital and investments will stop entering the country. Given its tenuous relations with the West, Turkey has turned its attention towards China.
China has been actively looking for new allies across Asia to bolster its regional trading network. Turkey’s prime geographic position at the entrance to Europe has made it an attractive regional partner. This has given the Erdoğan government hope that China will invest in key transport infrastructure and communication projects, helping to slow Turkey’s current economic crisis. China, actively expanding its One Belt One Road initiative to increase trade across the Eurasian continent, has already expressed support for economic aid to Turkey. Wang Yi, China’s minister of foreign affairs, recently stated that “China is supporting Turkey’s efforts for national security, stability, and economy.”
With elections approaching in March 2019, the AKP will be looking to secure firm monetary commitments from China in order to increase public support. Combined with increased Chinese limitations on press access and massive state censorship of all media coming out of the Xinjiang region, Turkey hopes that the focus on the Uighur struggle will begin to fade. With China increasingly appearing as an ally against the West, there is little motivation for Erdoğan’s government to speak out in favor of the Uighurs’ cause.