Be vigilant in Turkey, foreign ministry says

By Hu Yinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-03 08:31

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned its citizens in Turkey to be careful and avoid going outside, as tensions continue to rise between China and Turkey.

The ministry advised all Chinese residents and organizations in the country to "avoid populous areas and sensitive sites as much as possible", according to a notice published on the ministry's website on Saturday.

The tensions come in the aftermath of the July 5 deadly riot in Urumqi, capital city of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Rebiya Kadeer, chairwoman of the World Uygur Congress (WUC), described Turkey as "the only country which clearly protested against China" in the aftermath of the riots.

At least 197 people, most of them local Han residents, were slain and another 1,600 injured in what local authorities say is the bloodiest violence in the history of the region. Kadeer, a merchant-turned-convict who now lives in exile in the US is accused by China of masterminding the violence.

Earlier reports said Kadeer is likely to travel to Turkey, a country claiming ethnic and cultural ties to Chinese Uygurs. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described last month's violence as China's "genocide" against its own Uygur residents.

Erdogan has also stated that Turkish officials would bring the issue to the UN Security Council, and that Kadeer, who he calls the "Mother of Uygurs", would be granted a visa to visit Turkey.

Some extremists have also threatened to attack Chinese people living overseas. On Saturday, the leader of a group referring to itself as the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) urged Muslims to attack Chinese people to punish Beijing for what he described as massacres against Uygur Muslims, Reuters reported.

"Their men (Chinese) should be killed and captured to seek the release of our brothers who are jailed in East Turkistan ... We in East Turkistan have a duty to continue to resist without desperation," Abdul-Haq, described by an al Qaeda-linked website as the leader of TIP, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Abdul-Haq, whose group has launched violent attacks in the past, accused China of committing "barbaric massacres" against Muslims in Xinjiang, which TIP calls "East Turkistan".

Uygurs, the majority of whom practice Islam, make up roughly 46 percent of Xinjiang's population of 21 million.

Rebiya Kadeer said on Wednesday that "nearly 10,000 Uygurs went missing in one night" in the riot. She did not cite an identifiable source.

Meanwhile, online, stories of five Chinese students who brought up opposing viewpoints at WUC's first news briefing after the riot, continue to generate hits.

The briefing, reportedly held on July 8 in Munich, Germany, featured WUC Vice-President Asgar Can, who told journalists that, among other accusations, "more than 2,000 Han people attacked the General People's Hospital in Urumqi," killing Uygurs in large numbers.

Like Kadeer, Can said the sources were "obtained directly from East Turkistan" and offered no further detail.

But the students said they have direct sources within the hospital who could testify to the contrary and had photographs from Xinhua showing a series of disturbing images of Han residents being slain during what Can called "a peaceful demonstration."

Caught by surprise, organizers of the event had to halt the briefing.

Reuters contributed to the story