Tag: Xinjiang-Uighur

  • Chinese Muslims to shine in Turkey expo

    Chinese Muslims to shine in Turkey expo

    Chinese Muslims will bring their unique culture to Turkey in an Islamic cultural pageant to be held in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, on August 31, according to the Islamic Association of China (IAC).

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    The China-Turkey Islamic Cultural Expo and Performances 2012, jointly organized by China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs and Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs to mark the China-Turkey Cultural Year, will include an exhibition of Chinese Islamic culture, Quran chanting, a symposium on China-Turkey Islamic exchanges, and Islamic singing and dancing shows, according to Zhang Guanglin, deputy secretary-general of IAC.

    According to Zhang, the highlight of the show will be Chinese variants of Islamic culture, including a combination of Chinese calligraphy with Arabic and Uyghur handwriting, ancient Chinese Muslims’ articles of religious and daily use which date back to the 14th century, artistic shows presented by Chinese Muslims, and most importantly Chinese transcripts of the Quran.

    This will be the first time that foreign countries will host Chinese ancient transcripts of the Quran, some of which are valuable cultural relics with a history of around 300 years. The event will also showcase Quran copies made by modern Chinese Muslims, including a 208-meter-long paper-cut Quran, and copies engraved in jade and printed on silk.

    Quran transcripts have played an important role in China’s Islamic history, according to Zhang. Quran transcripts in Chinese language allowed Islamic preaching to reach the masses in China 300 years ago and facilitated the development of the then repressed religion. Today, China encourages the development of Islamism. Zhang said China has translated and published the Quran in languages including Chinese, Uyghur, Kazak and Kirgiz, and such translations will also be showcased in Istanbul.

    “Our Quran transcripts will give the world a glimpse of China’s Islamic history and Chinese Muslims’ devotion to Quran teachings,” said Zhang.

    During the symposium on China-Turkey Islamic exchanges, Chinese speakers will introduce Islamic history in China, the reality of Islamism in China today, the unique culture of Chinese Muslims, as well as the life of modern Chinese Muslims.

    “We will show the world the unique and splendid culture of Chinese Muslims,” said Zhang, adding that the event is also a move to boost religious exchanges between China and Turkey.

    “It will be a good opportunity to display the splendid Islamic cultures of the two countries, promote the Islamic spirits of peace, tolerance, moderation and cooperation, enhance friendly relations between the two countries, and promote the diversity of human culture,” according to the IAC deputy secretary-general.

    Zhang also mentioned that discussion is under way between China and Turkey covering cooperation in areas such as Quran printing and student exchange programs, as part of efforts to implement the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two countries in 2011.

    China has 23 million Muslims, living mainly in its northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Qinghai Province.

    via Chinese Muslims to shine in Turkey expo – Globaltimes.cn.

  • 12,000-Year-Old Rock Paintings Found in Xinjiang, China

    Look at this… ancient colored rock paintings dating back 12,000 years have been found in a cave in the Altai area of China’s Xinjiang region.

    The paintings found are mainly handprints, spot images and figures. All of them are colored, mostly painted with red ocher.

    The cave belongs to the Duogate rock-painting area. The paintings have been designated as a cultural relic site under county-level protection.

    Seven large-scale rock painting groups have been found in the area.

    Most of these rock paintings feature cows, horse, sheep, camels and male and female dancers, which are closely related to nomads’ life in ancient times.

  • Turkey Seeks Closer Economic and Strategic Ties with China

    Turkey Seeks Closer Economic and Strategic Ties with China

    Turkey Seeks Closer Economic and Strategic Ties with China

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 186

    October 15, 2010

    By: Saban Kardas

    Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabo’s official visit to Turkey on October 7-8, marked a new phase in Turkish-Chinese relations. During the joint press briefing with Wen’s Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, both leaders emphasized the importance they place on each other in their external relations and called their flourishing ties a “strategic partnership.” The parties signed eight agreements to develop further cooperation in various areas, including trade, transportation and combating terrorism (Anadolu Ajansi, October 9).

    Erdogan preferred to highlight the agreement to switch from dollars to their own currencies in bilateral trade. Turkey also signed a similar agreement with Russia and Iran, its other major trading partners. Through such bilateral agreements, Turkey appears determined to underscore its willingness to pursue independent policies in the global economic and financial order, which has been structured around US primacy. As such, Ankara seeks to readjust to a post-American-led world order, as the existing global order is currently in flux. On many occasions, Turkish leaders have emphasized that the gravity of the global economy has been shifting towards Asia, and that Turkey, which had been traditionally integrated into the Western world, now needs to readjust its economic and political priorities.

    It was therefore no surprise that Erdogan described the decision to use mutual currencies as a step to cement the strategic partnership between China, the economic giant which is likely to dominate the world economy in the years to come, and Turkey, an emerging economy which currently ranks 17th. China and Turkey have been the two major economies recovering rapidly from the global financial crisis, which may precipitate greater coordination between both powers in the context of the G-20 summit and other international platforms.

    However, there remains a major trade imbalance in China’s favor, which Turkey must quickly address. While Turkey’s imports from China were around $12.7 billion, Turkey’s exports amounted to only $1.6 billion in 2009. Ankara’s strategy is to redress this imbalance through the promotion of Chinese investments in Turkey, increasing tourism from China, and gaining greater exposure for Turkish products in China. Through more intensive cultural exchanges within the next three years, Turkey hopes to accomplish the latter objectives (Today’s Zaman, October 9). However, given China’s track record in achieving a positive trade balance with its partners and its low production costs, it remains to be seen how far Turkey can penetrate Chinese markets.

    Erdogan also referred to the prospects of joint projects in energy and nuclear power as yet another aspect of bilateral economic cooperation. Since Ankara signed an agreement with Moscow to construct the country’s first nuclear power plant, preparations have been underway for the construction of additional plants. While Turkey has been in talks with a South Korean company regarding the second plant (EDM, March 24), others, including Japanese companies, have recently approached Ankara on the same issue, raising expectations of growing competition in this sector. Given China’s recent drive to build numerous nuclear reactors, including some of the world’s most advanced, its experience in this field might make it a new entrant into the Turkish energy sector, though there is currently no concrete offer on the table. China has already won various large contracts to build major infrastructure projects, including modern railways in Turkey.

    History also plays a role in these flourishing ties, as references to the idea of reviving the historic Silk Road abound. Earlier, Iran also expressed interest in a similar idea, in the context of the Economic Cooperation Organization (www.irna.com, September 24). The Turkish side has worked on various projects to improve the transportation infrastructure in order that goods could flow easily between China and Turkey as well as through Central Asia (www.trt.net.tr, October 9). Such projects, in Ankara’s view, will also serve as the best remedy to bring stability to volatile Central Asia.

    However, historical factors also emerge as a source of friction in Sino-Turkish relations, as was demonstrated clearly during Wen’s visit. Following Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s historic visit to China in late June 2009, violent clashes in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region left many Turkic Muslim Uighurs dead in July 2009. Turkish leaders, which had come under pressure for ignoring the plight of Uighurs, moved to criticize Chinese policy in Xinjiang. Erdogan went as far as claiming that the killings amounted to “nearly genocide” (EDM, July 15, 2009). However, in the subsequent period, Sino-Turkish relations rapidly normalized, despite the efforts of the Uighur diaspora in Turkey to pressurize the government (EDM, August 19, 2009). Later, Turkey and China also started discussing cooperation in combating terrorism (Terrorism Monitor, October 1, 2009).

    Since China has represented the Uighur resistance as subversive terrorist activities, possibly with ties to the global al-Qaeda network, such cooperation with Turkey has been deemed valuable. In this context, Wen emphasized during the joint press briefing that they discussed boosting bilateral cooperation in fighting terrorism and extremism. Such talks, ironically, took place while Uighur activists organized demonstrations outside to protest against Wen’s visit and Ankara’s policy towards China (Hurriyet, October 9).

    Ankara’s position on Uighur demands, which might appear as backpedaling, mirrors Turkey’s earlier experience with the North Caucasus diaspora. In order to preserve the flourishing Turkish-Russian bilateral relationship, Ankara adopted a cooperative approach and restrained the activities of the Caucasian diaspora during the second Chechen war, a policy which continues to date (EDM, April 14). In the otherwise strong relationship with China, Uighur pleas for greater recognition are likely to remain a sore point. Yet, the Turkish government seems determined not to let the Xinjiang issue spoil growing economic and political ties with China.

    An apparent indication of this determination came earlier this month, when a Turkish daily reported that in late September and early October, the Turkish and Chinese air forces held joint drills in Turkey’s Central Anatolian province of Konya (Taraf, October 2). Although Turkey refrained from using its more advanced F-16’s and flew only F-4’s upon US expression of concern over protecting sensitive technology, its decision to deepen military ties with China to such a level, the first such exercise China has conducted with a NATO member, reveals much about Turkey’s new strategic priorities.

    https://jamestown.org/program/turkey-seeks-closer-economic-and-strategic-ties-with-china/

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “Brutality against Uighurs must be prevented”

    Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “Brutality against Uighurs must be prevented”

    b2Baku – APA. Turkish Prime Minister Racab Tayyib Erdogan took stance on bloody events taking place in Xinjiang-Uighur autonomous region of China, APA reports quoting Haberturk.

    Turkey is closely following the developments there: “Our Uighur brothers living in Turkey and Turkish people feeling this pain in their hearts hold protest actions condemning these events. We have always seen our Uighur brothers as a bridge between Turkey and China, the country we have always had normal relations with throughout the history. Necessary measures must be taken to prevent this brutality. We are temporary member of the UN Security Council for 2009-2010. We will also take these events into consideration there”.

     08 Jul 2009

    APA