From S.R.
China took a chance this week by approving a visit by Turkey's foreign minister to the region of Uyghurs, the Muslim minority that has come under severe repression. And Foreign Minister Fidan played his part superbly -- playing down Beijing's crackdown and keeping things positive.
He said. She said.
"We will be very pleased to see Uyghur Turks and all other people living in China enjoy peace and prosperity."
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan becomes the highest-ranking Turkish official to visit the Uyghurs since 2012.
Focus
Turkey’s FM Fidan walks through the bazaar at Urumqi, the capital of the Uyghur province. [AA]
Buying Silence
China and Turkey are strategic partners. Ankara is Beijing's friend in NATO and a key member of the Belt and Road Initiative. China has invested billions of dollars in the Muslim power.
There is one small problem: Turkey's parliament has repeatedly raised the China's treatment of the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority with lots of connections to Turkey. That has placed President Recep Erdogan, who sees himself as the defender of global Muslim rights, in a sensitive position. Turkey houses the second largest Uyghur diaspora, including an opposition against China.
After years of delicate talks, China has opened the doors of the Uyghurs to Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was allowed to tour the so-called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Fidan, who visited two Uyghur provinces, became the highest-ranking Turkish official to visit the region since 2012.
“We will be very pleased to see Uyghur Turks and all other people living in China enjoy peace and prosperity,” Fidan said.
Twelve years have made a world of difference in Turkey. In 2009, Erdogan accused China of conducting genocide against the Ughurs. Today, the regime he heads makes sure to censor criticism in the mainstream media and even arrest those who condemn Beijing for crimes against humanity, asserted by a United Nations report in 2022.
Beijing is good at buying silence, and that includes steering major Chinese contracts to those affiliated with Turkey's ruling AKP Party. It means Chinese partnerships that have built huge factories in construction, energy and medicine. It is also the promise that Turkey will be a key waystation in the corridor of a railway that will link China to the Middle East and Europe.
And when Beijing is displeased with the rhetoric coming out of Ankara, the Chinese drag their feet on landmark projects in such areas as infrastructure and nuclear energy. Given Turkey's teetering economy, Erdogan needs plenty of Chinese cash fast.
The Fidan visit was completely orchestrated by Beijing. The foreign minister visited cities approved by the Communist leadership and met Uyghurs regarded as trustworthy. He ignored the Chinese violations of the religious rights of the Muslims and instead focused on their Turkish culture. At one point, Fian appeared in a turquoise tie, the color of the Uyghur national flags and called Urumqi and Kashgar "ancient Turkish-Islamic cities."
But that was the extent of Fidan's identification with the Uyghurs. He stressed that Ankara respects China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that his government rejects terrorist activities in China, which appeared to support Beijing's claim that the Uyghurs were involved in sabotage.
Most of Hakan's three-day visit was taken with trying to expand Turkey's strategic partnership with China. First thing: Ankara wants to improve the huge trade imbalance with Beijing through increased Chinese imports, tourism and investment.
Second, Turkey wants China to work harder to make the former a part of the so-called Silk Road to Europe and Africa. The priority would be the construction of a railway from China through Iran and Turkey where exports could be shipped to the West. Beijing has already done a lot on a rail link to Pakistan and Eastern Europe, and Erdogan feels left out. During Fidan's visit, China and Kyrgyzstan signed a railway agreement meant to link Beijing to the Gulf.
Another goal by Erdogan would have China take over Turkey's nuclear program and give it the tools to build atomic bombs should be the need arise. If it sounds familiar, it is what China and Russia have been doing in Iran.
But to have the kind of open and comprehensive relationship with China, Turkey's rulers need to show progress on the Uyghurs. That was Fidan's message.
A Turkish diplomat put it this way: "We told them that completely eliminating the reasons that worry the Turkish and Islamic world regarding the Uyghurs will be of great benefit to everyone. Changing the perception on this issue will only be possible with the steps taken by China.”
The key word is “perception.” Pretend you're doing something and get most to agree. Then, the only ones who insist otherwise are troublemakers and Erdogan has plenty of ways to shut them up. Of course, Beijing prefers that the obstinate Uyghurs be extradited to China.
But China will not agree to anything beyond cosmetics. The Xinjiang Autonomous Region is along the borders of China's escape route -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. South of the Uyghur region is arch-enemy India.
Beijing's nightmare: Genuine rights for the Uyghurs will lead to improved ties with neighboring Muslim states. That will be followed by demands of independence -- on the basis that the Uyghurs have nothing in common with the average Chinese. That endangers the hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese trade link projects that move through Xinjiang.
This is exactly what China is demanding from Israel amid its war with Hamas. Complete withdrawal and the establishment of a Palestinian state that will cut the Jewish state in half.
Funny, how perception changes when the shoe is on the other foot.
Ticker Tape
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