Turkish foreign ministry spokesman slammed Chinese authorities’ systematic assimilation policy towards Uighur Turks, saying it is a "great embarrassment" in a written statement on Saturday.
Spokesman Hami Aksoy said, "Systematic assimilation policy of Chinese authorities towards Uighur Turks is a great embarrassment for humanity."
“It is no longer a secret that more than one million Uighur Turks, -- who are exposed to arbitrary arrests -- are subjected to torture and political brainwashing in concentration centers and prisons,” Aksoy said.
“Uighurs -- who are not detained in the camps -- are also under great pressure. Our Uighur-origin citizens living abroad cannot hear from their relatives living in this region,” he added.
Turkey invites Chinese authorities to respect fundamental human rights of Uighur Turks and shut down concentration camps, Aksoy said.
Up to 1 million people, or about 7 per cent of the Muslim population in Xinjiang, have been incarcerated in an expanding network of “political re-education” camps, according to U.S. officials and UN experts.
In its last report released on last September, Human Rights Watch blamed the Chinese government for a “systematic campaign of human rights violations” against Uighur Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in the country.
According to a 117-page report, the Chinese government conducted “mass arbitrary detention, torture and mistreatment” of Uighur Turks in the region.