Parliament asks China to send delegation to Xinjiang

Parliament asks China to send delegation to Xinjiang
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
ANKARA – Daily News Parliament Bureau

Turkish Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan has asked China to allow a parliamentary delegation to visit the Xinjiang autonomous region, where two weeks of unrest between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese have claimed the lives of at least 184 people.

Toptan made the request during a meeting with current and former Chinese ambassadors to Turkey, namely Gong Xiaosheng and Aiguo Song, late Monday, the Daily News has learned from reliable sources.

“We are concerned about the incidents. We want to visit the area and see what happened with our own eyes,” Toptan told ambassadors. According to sources, the Chinese envoys positively responded to the request but said they first had to ask Beijing for approval. If the Chinese government allows Parliament to send a delegation, a small mission would be established.

Toptan also asked the ambassadors for an open and comprehensive investigation and punishment for those responsible. “Some Chinese officials’ statements that said capital punishment would be given to those who took part in such riots did escalate our concerns. Security forces should not use disproportionate force against the demonstrators. The violations of fundamental human rights make us more nervous,” Toptan stated, according to sources who were familiar with the talks.

The parliament speaker repeated Turkey’s official position on the territorial integrity and political unity of China. “Such problems should be resolved within the territorial integrity of China,” he noted.

China was also planning to allow a group of journalists to visit the area and conduct interviews with local people in order to compile stories