Since the 1950s, tens of thousands of Uighurs fleeing persecution in China have been given refuge in Turkey. They share a common language, culture and religious traditions with the Turks. However, following a recent agreement between China and Turkey, some experts say the Uighur community in Turkey may be in danger.
Some 50,000 Uighurs are believed to live in Turkey, making it the world’s largest Uighur refugee community.
However, Uighur activists in the diaspora point out that the situation has changed significantly since the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Congress approved an extradition agreement with Turkey on Dec. 26. The treaty dates back to May 2017, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Beijing to attend a forum on the Belt and Road Initiative.
“If we look at the systematic policy of assimilation and genocide that China is pursuing in East Turkestan, the danger that this agreement could pose would be serious,” Erkin Erkin Ekrem, director of the Ankara-based Uighur Research Institute, said. Uighurs refer to China’s Xinjiang region as East Turkestan.
The extradition treaty largely benefits China, which has the death penalty, Ekrem told VOA. Uighur refugees who risk the death penalty if they return to China are particularly vulnerable to this treaty, he said. The treaty does not stipulate that those facing the death penalty in China cannot be extradited.
The 22-clause agreement obliges signatories to extradite anyone wanted for criminal activity to the requesting country.
“Extradition shall be granted only if the act for which extradition is requested constitutes a crime under the laws of both parties. …… extradition shall be granted,” the agreement says.
Turkey’s position
Turkish and Chinese officials have denied claims that the treaty provides a legal window for Turkey to deport Uighurs.
A diplomatic source at the Turkish Foreign Ministry told the Voice of America that Turkey views its treaty with China as a routine matter, similar to the 32 treaties Turkey has signed with other countries to extradite criminals under international law.
The source said, “It is extremely wrong to see the extradition treaty with China as targeting Uighur Turks.”
When this treaty was submitted to the Chinese People’s Congress for a vote, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said the agreement addresses the need for cooperation between Beijing and Ankara in the fight against terrorism and crime.
During negotiations on the agreement, Le Yucheng said, Chinese and Turkish representatives disagreed on the issue of determining the nationality of the deportees. Turkey proposed that the person sought be recognized as a national of the requested country if he had acquired the nationality of the requested country at the time the extradition request was made. China, however, argued that such a proposal could encourage criminals to evade extradition by changing their nationality.
“Both sides eventually agreed not to specify the time of nationality recognition in the treaty, but to transfer it to the competent authorities according to their respective domestic laws,” Le said.
Turkey’s inability to include its proposal in the treaty means that many Uighurs could face crackdowns from Beijing despite obtaining Turkish citizenship, according to Hankiz Kurban, a Turkish-born Uighur. Kurban’s parents were abducted by Chinese authorities despite having Turkish citizenship.
“If this treaty is ratified by the Turkish parliament, I fear I will never see my parents again,” she said.
Kurban said her father came to Turkey as a child and her mother came from Xinjiang as a teenager. in 2017, they were both arrested by Chinese police in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, where they were on a business trip, and have been isolated from the outside world ever since.
Detained Uyghurs
Since 2017, the Chinese government has tortured, forcibly sterilized, forced labored and forcibly renounced the faith of more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims in detention camps, human rights groups say. But China denies mistreating the Uighur minority, saying the facilities are “vocational skills education training centers” designed to combat extremism and teach Uighurs different job skills.
Relations between Ankara and Beijing were strained after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Chinese government’s crackdown on the July 2009 Uighur protests in Urumqi “genocide. The two countries began to reconcile in October 2010 through the establishment of a strategic partnership.
Kemal Kirisci, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the Turkish government has been “surprisingly quiet and restrained” in recent years in its treatment of Uighurs in Beijing because of Beijing’s growing economic influence over Turkey.
He told the Voice of America, “Given the dire situation of the Turkish economy and Turkey’s poor relations with its traditional Western allies, economic factors are likely to have played a role.”
Last October, 39 countries sent a letter to the United Nations condemning China’s policies in Xinjiang. Uighur activists in the diaspora say what is striking is Turkey’s reluctance to join the effort.
Alimcan Inayet, president of the Istanbul-based Uighur Academy, alleges that Uighur organizations engaged in political activism for the “East Turkestan cause” are finding themselves under increasing pressure.
Inayet added that the extradition treaty means that these organizations “must be more restricted in their activities.
Last year, NPR reported in a story that Turkey had deported at least four Uighurs to Tajikistan, one of whom, Zinnetgul Tursun, and her two toddlers were eventually detained by Chinese police.
However, Turkey’s General Directorate of Migration issued a statement last September denying that Turkey renders Uighurs to China “directly or through third countries.
Despite this reaffirmation, some Uighurs in Turkey say Ankara’s expanded security cooperation with Beijing has heightened Uighur refugees’ fears of being extradited to China.
“I love Turkey. I am not against this country. Even though I have never committed any crime, I always fear being arrested or deported,” lamented Ihsan Kartal, an Istanbul-based Uighur refugee and businessman.
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