China questions Turkish PM comment

BEIJING, July 15 (UPI) -- China slammed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for reportedly calling Beijing's handling of the situation in Urumqi a kind of genocide.

People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, citing a media report, said Chinese were angered by Erdogan's charge of genocide, which it said was made during the weekend.

The July 5 violence between Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left 184 people dead in Urumqi where tensions between the two groups have simmered for years.

The People's Daily, quoting Global Times, said a recent online poll showed 95.6 percent of those surveyed said they believed Erdogan was showing support to terrorism by making such remarks.

Erdogan also was quoted as saying China should "give up efforts to assimilate" its Uighur minority.

The report, quoting an Urumqi official, said the Uighur population has risen to about 10 million from 3 million in 1949 while many Han Chinese complain the government imposes family planning on them but not on Uighurs.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry official told Global Times the government was "following up on the reactions (from Turkey) and will see how the situation develops."

Fang Ning with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said the Turkish prime minister lacked facts and had obscured the issue.

Kerry Brown, a senior fellow at the Asia Program at the London-based Chatham House, was quoted as saying Erdogan's remarks were not surprising as Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country.