Looming China extradition deal worries Uighurs in Turkey
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
August 18, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
Looming China extradition deal worries Uighurs in Turkey

World+Biz

Reuters
08 March, 2021, 07:55 pm
Last modified: 08 March, 2021, 07:57 pm

Related News

  • China races to alleviate drought, power cuts amid record heatwave
  • Turkey, Israel to re-appoint ambassadors after four-year chill
  • China's Xi makes first public appearance in two weeks
  • China heat wave pushes up prices as hens lay fewer eggs
  • US carries out missile test delayed over Chinese drills

Looming China extradition deal worries Uighurs in Turkey

UN experts estimate at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims are held in detention centres in northwest China’s Xinjiang region and the United States said in January China has committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uighurs

Reuters
08 March, 2021, 07:55 pm
Last modified: 08 March, 2021, 07:57 pm
A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education centre in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. Photo: Reuters
A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education centre in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. Photo: Reuters

Joining hundreds of women in Istanbul to protest at China's treatment of Uighurs, Nursiman Abdurasit tearfully thinks of her jailed mother in Xinjiang and fears that Uighurs like her in Turkey may one day be sent back under an extradition deal.

Beijing approved an extradition treaty between the two nations in December and with the deal awaiting ratification by Ankara's parliament, activists among some 40,000 Uighurs living in Turkey have stepped up efforts to highlight their plight.

Abdurasit came to Turkey to study in 2015 and lost contact with her family four years ago. Last summer she discovered her parents and two brothers had been given long jail sentences on suspicion of unspecified "terrorism-related activities".

"I have been living with the knowledge that my mother has been in a detention centre for the last four years, experiencing repression," she said at a protest to mark Women's Day on an Istanbul seafront, near China's Istanbul consulate.

The headscarved 32-year-old said she recalled International Women's Day was her mother's happiest day, when the family would give her presents, until she received the 13-year jail sentence.

Around her, the 1,000-strong crowd held up photos of missing relatives and waved the blue-and-white flags of the independence movement of East Turkestan, the name by which the movement refers to Xinjiang.

UN experts estimate at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims are held in detention centres in northwest China's Xinjiang region and the United States said in January China has committed "genocide and crimes against humanity" by repressing Uighurs.

China denies accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, and has said the complexes it set up in the region provided vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism.

"China says that what we are doing is a crime, 'what you are doing is separatism, disparaging the state'," said Abdurasit, voicing concern about the consequences of the extradition deal waiting in a Turkish parliamentary commission.

"If this agreement is ratified, we could be extradited for this crime. So we are worried," said the woman, who lives in a small Istanbul flat with her Uighur husband and six-year-old daughter.

Worries among Uighur Muslims living in Turkey have been exacerbated by Ankara's dependence on China for Covid-19 vaccines, having received 15 million doses from China's Sinovac Biotech and ordered tens of millions more.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has denied that the extradition agreement would lead to Uighurs being sent back, describing it as a routine according similar to ones Turkey has with other countries.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson said last month that Uighurs who have been holding regular protests near China's diplomatic premises in Turkey in recent months were trying to deceive Turkish people and damage bilateral relations.

"These people's aim with their made-up lies is to attack the Chinese government's Xinjiang policies, blacken China's image and exploit the problems related to Xinjiang," he said.

The embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the protest on Monday.

Top News

Uighur / china / Turkey

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Eight more banks make unusual gains from forex dealings
    Eight more banks make unusual gains from forex dealings
  • The general view of the city from the top of a hill in Kabul, Afghanistan November 5, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
    Huge explosion hits Kabul mosque, many casualties feared
  • Photo: TBS
    9 arrested over BRT girder crash

MOST VIEWED

  • The general view of the city from the top of a hill in Kabul, Afghanistan November 5, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
    Huge explosion hits Kabul mosque, many casualties feared
  • WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Photo/BSS
    WHO chief: 'Colour of skin' may be why Tigray crisis not getting attention
  • A person eats a sandwich in hot weather during lunch hour in the financial district of Canary Wharf in London, Britain, July 15, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs/File Photo
    Global shares fall, US Treasury yields rise ahead of Fed minutes
  • FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 17, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
    Wall St falls as growth stocks slide, Target weighs on retail shares
  • One US dollar banknote is pictured through broken glass in this illustration taken June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
    US, European banks could lose over $5 bln from risky buyout loans
  • A Taliban Air Force plane flies over Kabul, Afghanistan August 17, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara
    Taliban test repaired helicopters, planes in flyover of capital

Related News

  • China races to alleviate drought, power cuts amid record heatwave
  • Turkey, Israel to re-appoint ambassadors after four-year chill
  • China's Xi makes first public appearance in two weeks
  • China heat wave pushes up prices as hens lay fewer eggs
  • US carries out missile test delayed over Chinese drills

Features

Photo: Collected

Which Nintendo Switch should you switch to?

1d | Brands
Photo: Collected

Welcome to the age of glass facades

1d | Habitat
Photo: Mumit M/TBS

Why artificial oyster reefs are the answer to our coastal embankments problems

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Anwar Group: From comb maker to owner of 20 companies

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Vivo to bring new phone with 'special features'

Vivo to bring new phone with 'special features'

11h | Videos
Can Bangladesh buy fuel oil from Russia?

Can Bangladesh buy fuel oil from Russia?

11h | Videos
Sony launches 'Playstation Backbone' for iPhones

Sony launches 'Playstation Backbone' for iPhones

12h | Videos
High cost of baby food a problem for people with limited income

High cost of baby food a problem for people with limited income

12h | Videos

Most Read

1
From left Afzal Karim, Murshedul Kabir and Mohammad Jahangir
Banking

Sonali, Agrani and Rupali banks get new MDs

2
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

5 crushed to death as BRT girder falls on car in Uttara

3
Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil
Energy

Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil

4
Photo: Collected
Economy

Bangladesh is not in a crisis situation: IMF

5
Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market
Economy

Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market

6
Banks limited to profit highest Tk1 per dollar
Economy

Banks limited to profit highest Tk1 per dollar

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]