Turkey condemns Thailand's repatriation of Uighurs to China
Turkey's Foreign Ministry has condemned Thailand's decision to send more than 100 Uighur migrants back to China, saying the practice violates international humanitarian laws.
In a statement released on its website on Thursday, the ministry said the move came despite "numerous initiatives" by Turkey to prevent their repatriation.
“Turkey has learned with great sadness that 115 Uighur Turks sent to a third country despite their own will and desire,” it said.
However the ministry failed to mention about the Turkish protesters' attack on the Thai honorary consulate in Istanbul. The protesters smashed windows and ransack parts of the building, in protest of Bangkok's expulsion of nearly 100 Uighur Muslims back to China.
The statement said non-refoulement, i.e., the principle of not expelling persons who have the right to be recognized as refugees, is an international law principle that concerns not only migrants but also anyone who faces the risk of either torture or the violation of their right to life.
“We condemn the Thai government's practice that is against international human rights law, despite our many initiatives in regard to Thailand and related international institutions,” Ankara said.
The Turkish ministry added that it will continue to monitor the fate of the Uighurs.
China's treatment of its Turkic language-speaking Uighur minority in the Xinjiang region, commonly known in Turkey as East Turkistan, is a sensitive issue in Turkey and has strained bilateral ties ahead of a planned visit to Beijing this month by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Many Turks see themselves as sharing a common cultural and religious heritage with their Uighur "brothers," and Turkey is home to a large Uighur diaspora.
Beijing denies restricting the Uighurs' religious freedoms and blames Uighurs for a rise in violent attacks in its western Xinjiang region in the past three years in which hundreds have died.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Uighurs have fled unrest in China's western Xinjiang region, where hundreds of people have been killed, prompting a crackdown by Chinese authorities. They have traveled clandestinely through southeastern Asia to Turkey. China is home to about 20 million Muslims spread across its vast territory, only a small portion of who are Uighur.
