The New York Times

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

Jiang's Cordial Visit to Turkey Overshadowed by Ethnic Dispute

By STEPHEN KINZER

ISTANBUL, April 18 -- President Jiang Zemin of China arrived today in Turkey for a long-awaited state visit. But hopes that the two countries can build a new alliance were overshadowed by a dispute over ethnic Turks who live in China.

Turkey considers itself the guardian of ethnic Turks around the world, including the 7.2 million Uighurs who live in western China. Separatist Uighurs have begun a violent campaign against Chinese rule, and scores have been jailed or executed, prompting protests from Turkey.

The Uighurs, who are Muslim and speak a Turkic language, have broad support here. Uighur nationalists maintain an office in Istanbul. But the Turkish government, wary of provoking China, watches it closely and does not allow Uighurs here to agitate openly against Chinese rule.

China calls the area where Uighurs live the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. But Turkish politicians and news commentators usually call it Eastern Turkistan. That phrase suggests that Uighurs belong not to China, but to a broad Turkic region whose inhabitants share a culture and language that has nothing in common with Chinese.

The Chinese authorities are determined not to give further autonomy to the Uighur region, which is believed to have vast oil and mineral reserves. They have closed mosques, broken up protests, moved several million Han Chinese into the region, and taken other steps that Uighur exiles say are intended to weaken or destroy Uighur identity.

Turkish and Chinese leaders view their countries as natural allies. Both are rapidly developing nations that hope to play increasingly important roles in world politics. Both resent foreign criticism of their human rights records, and both have strong military establishments with significant political influence.

President Jiang arrived here after a visit to Israel. China seeks to buy sophisticated spy planes from Israel, and Israeli leaders have suggested that they will agree to sell them despite objections from the United States.

Turkey has already begun military cooperation with China. Senior generals visit each other's headquarters regularly, and cadets train at each other's military academies. More military accords may be signed during Mr. Jiang's visit.

The prospect of closer military ties and greatly increased trade finally persuaded nationalists in the Turkish government to endorse the visit, but they did so grudgingly.

At a state dinner on Wednesday, Mr. Jiang is to receive a medal that can be awarded only after a unanimous vote of the cabinet. Ministers from the far-right Nationalist Action Party, which has strongly endorsed the Uighur cause and condemned Chinese actions in the Uighur region, at first resisted giving their approval, but did so at the last minute.