THAILAND-UIGHURS/TURKEY UPDATE Police fire tear gas to disperse anti-China protest in Ankara

Record ID: 147910

  • Title: THAILAND-UIGHURS/TURKEY UPDATE Police fire tear gas to disperse anti-China protest in Ankara
  • Date: 9th July 2015
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (JULY 9, 2015) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS TRYING TO BREAK DOWN BARRICADE / POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS POLICE PUSHING PROTESTERS AWAY WOMAN FALLING ON GROUND PROTESTERS TENDING TO WOMAN ON GROUND / POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS POLICE FORMING BARRICADE MALE PROTESTERS HOLDING UP FLAGS FEMALE PROTESTERS CHANTING "ALLAH-U AKBAR" (God is Great) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS TRYING TO BR
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACIOCSZ3UJJAFIXC0F8EPAG13Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Riot police in the Turkish capital Ankara used tear gas to disperse a group of about 100 protesters outside the Chinese Embassy on Thursday (July 9) after they knocked down a barricade.
    Some protesters were affected by the tear gas, with one woman seen falling to her knees and being tended to by fellow protesters.
    The demonstrations took place after Thailand's prime minister defended a decision to forcibly return nearly 100 Uighur Muslim migrants to China, despite rights groups' fears they could face ill-treatment.
    Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said it was not Bangkok's fault if the Uighers suffered any problems.
    A spokesperson for the protesters said that cruelty in China had spread to Thailand.
    "We have heard that 90 Uighur brothers who fled from China were sent back to China and four Uighurs died. The tragedy in the Uighur region reached the Thai border. It is forbidden to pray to fast or perform any religious act. We are here to protest human rights abuses that take place in Thailand and China. The Chinese cruelty has spread to Thailand," said Seyit Tumturk, Vice President of the World Uigher Congress.
    The protests were the latest in a series of anti-China demonstrations in recent days, mostly orchestrated by a youth group linked to Turkey's opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
    Thailand's prime minister on Thursday raised the possibility of shutting the Thai Embassy in Turkey after protesters attacked the honorary consulate in Istanbul, smashing windows and ransacking parts of the building.
    China's treatment of its Turkic language-speaking Uighur minority is a sensitive issue in Turkey and has strained bilateral ties ahead of a planned visit to Beijing this month by President Tayyip Erdogan.
    Some Turks see themselves as sharing a common cultural and religious heritage with their Uighur "brothers" and Turkey is home to a large Uighur diaspora.
    Turkey has vowed to keep its doors open to Uighur migrants fleeing persecution in China, exacerbating a row with Beijing.
    Around 170 Uighur women and children arrived in Istanbul last week from Thailand, where they had been held for more than a year for illegal entry.
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