Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Wednesday said that Turkey is determined to cooperate with China despite an ongoing row with Beijing over the treatment of Uighur Turks, pro-government Hürriyet Daily News reported.
Noting that Ankara is closely following the problems of the Uighur Turks, Çavuşoğlu said, “What can be done on this? First, cooperation with China. Second, cooperation with international organizations. For example, a delegation from the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation [OIC] is in China for investigation. We are now waiting for their report,” during a conference at a conference at an Ankara university.
Human rights groups and government officials accuse China of forcing hundreds of thousands of Uighurs, the biggest ethnic group in the country’s Xinjiang region, into internment camps and seeking to strip them of their ethnic and religious identity.
China has rejected all accusations of mistreatment in the camps, which it refers to as vocational training centres.
Çavuşoğlu said the had a meeting with China’s new ambassador to Turkey, Deng Li, on Feb. 26 in order to discuss recent developments and noted that Ankara would continue to call for China to differentiate between terrorists from innocent civilians.
Çavuşoğlu’s statements follow those on Feb 25 when he addressed Beijing over its alleged mistreatment of Uighurs Turks and other Muslims and called on Chinese authorities to protect the freedom of religion and cultural identity.
Turkey has been an outspoken critic of China over its treatment of Uighur Turks, accusing the Chinese government of “torture and political brainwashing in internment camps and prisons.” China has responded to Turkey over the statement and denied allegations while highlighting Ankara’s needs to deal with its own terror problems.
“The fact that we have a problem with China on an issue should not necessarily hinder our cooperation on other matters. We may link China’s One Belt One Road Initiative with our own Middle Corridor Initiative so that a direct line between London and Beijing could be set up,” Çavuşoğlu noted.
The Chinese One Belt One Road Initiative is looking to connect Asia, Africa and Europe, with billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructural investment projects involving roads, railways, ports and energy transmission lines. Beijing has said Turkey will play a pivotal role in the project.