The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile (ETGE) – a body comprising of prominent Uyghur, Kazakh and other East Turkistani independence leaders who represent East Turkistan and its people – has condemned the Turkish Parliamentary Speaker’s meeting with the leadership of the Chinese National Congress.

As per media reports, Turkey’s Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop held a virtual meeting with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress, to boost ties between Ankara and Beijing.

In a statement released Wednesday, the ETGE and the global East Turkistani diaspora called on Turkey to “not betray” East Turkistan as the close cooperation between Turkey and China is already having “severe negative consequences” for the plight of East Turkistan and its people.

“We would like to remind Mr. Şentop, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the Government of Turkey and all the people of Turkey once again that East Turkistan is the historical homeland of the Turkic peoples and that East Turkistan is an occupied country, not a so-called ‘internal affairs’ of China,” said Salih Hudayar, Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.

“The damaging statements that Mr. Şentop made, regarding East Turkistan, to appease China not only harms East Turkistan and its plight, but it also causes deep mistrust of the Turkish Government by the global East Turkistani diaspora and the Turkic world,” he added.

The ETGE stated that East Turkistani people have long been wary of Turkey’s increasingly close relationship with China and have become increasingly skeptical of its sincerity towards East Turkistan and the Uyghurs.

“In recent years under the Erodgan regime, Turkey has been suppressing East Turkistani activism and remains silent about China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan,” the statement mentioned.

During the meeting, Şentop stated Turkey wanted to increase its relationship with China, including more investments and bilateral trade.

“We ask Turkey not to betray East Turkistan. The only way for Turkey to prove its stance on the East Turkistan issue is by recognizing China’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan,” said ETGE Vice President Abdulahat Nur.

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