Turkey’s Erdogan, China’s Xi discuss Uighurs in phone call

Erdogan says Uighurs should live in peace as ‘equal citizens of China’, adding that Turkey respects China’s sovereignty.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping it is important to Turkey that Uighur Muslims live in peace as “equal citizens of China” but said Turkey respects China’s national sovereignty. Erdogan made the comments during a phone call with Xi on Tuesday in which the two leaders discussed bilateral and regional issues, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency. UN experts and rights groups estimate that more than one million people, mainly from the Turkic language-speaking Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in a vast system of camps in China’s western Xinjiang region.