UYGHURS IN CHINA-TURKEY RELATIONS
UYGHURS IN CHINA-TURKEY RELATIONS

Summary/Abstract: Treatment of Uyghurs in the People’s Republic of China has been one of the hot topics in global media for the last few years. Officials from a number of countries have already expressed their position on the matter. The Turkish and Uyghur peoples belong to the same ethno-linguistic family, namely Turkic. Out of all current Turkic UN member states, Turkey has enjoyed its independence for the longest period. Today, together with other Turkic states that recently regained their independence and with some other Turkic populated autonomies, Turkey is participating in a number of cooperative organisations, such as the Turkic Council and the International Organization of Turkic Culture. This article aims to discuss China-Turkey relations in context of the ongoing Uyghur issue through the lenses of identity. Amity/enmity complex (also known as friend/enemy distinction) has been used to analyse the chosen topic. The result reveals in what way the Uyghur issue pushes the relations between the two countries towards enmity, which then helps interpret certain changes in Turkey’s rhetoric and policies towards China. It is important to stress, as the issue is still ongoing as of 2019, when the current piece was written. Thus, the article’s conclusion should be subjected to revisions as events unravel further.

• Details
• Contents