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Here's our translation of an article we found on Global Times 《环球时报》dated July 11 entitled "Turkey in open support of Xinjiang independence terrorist elements, and stoking the flames of anger among Chinese netizens". It gives you a good idea of the standard fare in Chinese papers today on the recent Xinjiang developments:
Since the violent riots and arson incidents broke out in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on July 5, the governments of many nations have been cautious in making statements but the Turkish government's response has been somewhat more intense, coming out in bold audacious support of the Xinjiang independence movement, and stoking the fiery anger of Chinese netizens.
According to a report on July 9 on the website of Today's Zaman, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told foreign ministers of the Gulf region, "We are the brothers of Xinjiang's Uyghur people." He told a BBC journalist, "We are closely watching the developments with great sorrow and anxiety", and to a reporter from AFP, "We hope [Beijing] will soon make all the necessary measures in line with human rights standards." The Turkish Foreign Minister promised that he "would not be silent on developments within Xinjiang." Subsequently, Erdogan "promised" to issue a visa for Xinjiang independence paramount leader Rebiya Kadeer. Meanwhile, some in Turkey have been calling for a boycott of Chinese products.
Sino-Turkish relations have been developing smoothly in recent years. In November 2003, when a spate of terrorist bombings took place in Turkey, the Chinese people stood resolutely on the side of the Turkish people, and not a single Chinese publication made jokes out of Turkey's situation. Hence, Turkey's latest performance has stoked the intense hatred of Chinese netizens.
In a survey undertaken by Huanqiu.com on July 10, 6,355 netizens (representing 96.4% of survey respondents) were of the opinion that Turkey was clearly meddling in China's internal affairs. Meanwhile, another 96.4% (totalling 6,396 votes) feel intense anger with respect to the behaviour of the Turkish government.
In a separate survey, 96.1% of respondents (totally 2,865 votes) believe that the Turkish PM's decision to issue Rebiya Kadeer a visa is an open support of terrorism.
Said one netizen on Huanqiu.com, "What right does the Turkish government have to comment on Chinese affairs? If I don't remember wrongly, your country also suffered many terrorist attacks leading to the deaths of many civilians? Did China say anything then? Did China support the terrorist elements within your country?"
Another Huanqiu.com member said that Turkey also suffered from frequent terrorist attacks because of Kurdish separatist forces, but this time they had flagrant disregard for the truth in their support of the Xinjiang independence movement which seeks to split up China. If someday violence too breaks out in Turkey because of splittist elements, China should also not stand on the side of the Turkish! "China has never done anything to let Turkey down and has always supported the unity of the Turkish nation. For Turkey to return good for evil this time, it's just despicable!"
Yet another Huanqiu.com netizen observed that Turkey had always been applying to join the European Union but had always been rejected because it was a Muslim nation. Turkey's display of an anti-Chinese position is to please the Western nations, and to get into the good books of the EU and the US so as to up the chances of joining the EU.
Researcher Fang Ning from the political institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in an interview that the Turkish Prime Minister and foreign minister did not make factual comments on the 7/5 incident. In today's world, he said, there are universal standards when it comes to managing international issues and one should not use a double standard when it comes to China's problems. Just as we cannot say the 9/11 incident was a clash between ethnic groups, the 7/5 incident also had nothing to do with a clash between ethnic groups. Fang Ning further said that in the face of the clear facts and China's open, transparent position, some Western media are still blatantly trying to distort the facts. This is a rejection by some Western media and others in the West in the face of a Chinese renaissance. In the face of such prejudice, our best method is to work harder at developing ourselves. When China overcomes all these adversities, when China's strength becomes an indisputable fact, these prejudices can then be corrected.
The original Chinese text follows after the jump, and for those of you who have your VPN set up and are able to view Youtube videos, there's also a video of recent protests in Turkey and Germany. Note the striking similarity between the Turkish flag and the flag of the Xinjiang / East Turkestan independence movement.
土耳其公开支持“疆独”恐怖分子点燃中国网民怒火
2009年07月11日 11:04环球网-环球时报
中国新疆维吾尔自治区乌鲁木齐市7月5日前发生打砸抢烧严重暴力事件，各国政府对此表态都非常谨慎，但土耳其政府的反应却较为激烈，对“疆独”进行明目张胆的支持，这激起了中国网民的强烈愤慨。
据土耳其《今日扎曼》网9日报道说，土耳其总理埃尔多安对海湾国家外长说，“我们与新疆的维吾尔人是兄弟”；他对BBC记者说，“我们怀着极大的哀伤和焦虑关注着事态的发展”；他还对法新社记者说:“我们希望(北京)立即采取符合人权标准的必要措施。”土耳其外长则宣称“不会对正在新疆发生的事情表示沉默”。此后，埃尔多安甚至还“承诺”，为“疆独”头目热比娅发放入境签证。与此同时，土耳其方面甚至还出现了煽动抵制中国商品的舆论。
中土关系近年来发展顺利，2003年11月土耳其发生重大连环恐怖爆炸事件，当时中国人民坚定地站在土耳其人民一边，中国媒体没有一家看土耳其的笑话。因此，土耳其此次的表现激起了中国网民的极大愤慨。
环球网10日进行的调查显示，约6355名网民(占总调查人数的96.4%)认为，土耳其是在粗暴干涉中国内政，还有另外96.4%的网民(6396票)对土耳其政府的做法感到气愤。
在另外一项调查中，96.1%的网友(2865票)认为土耳其总理决定给热比娅发签证是公开支持恐怖主义。
环球网友评论说，“土耳其政府有什么资格对中国的事情评头论足？如果我没记错，你们国内发生过很多次恐怖袭击事件也有许多平民遇难吧？中国有说过什么吗，中国支持过你们国家的分裂势力吗？ ”
还有的环球网友认为，土耳其国内存在库尔德人分裂势力，并经常遭遇恐怖袭击，但这次却无视暴乱事实于不顾，支持“疆独”分裂中国。如果以后土耳其也发生分裂势力制造的暴乱，中国也不要站在土耳其一边了！“中国一直没做过对不起土耳其的事情，也一直支持土耳其国家统一。这次土耳其以德报怨，实在可恨！”
也有环球网友认为，土耳其一直申请加入欧盟，但由于它是穆斯林国家，因此遭到了拒绝。土耳其之所以持强烈反华立场是为了取悦西方国家，为了从欧美获得更多的好处，也为其加入欧盟创造机会。
中国社会科学院政治学所研究员房宁此前在接受采访时说，土耳其总理和外长对我国“7·5”事件的定性不妥。在当今世界上，处理国际问题是有公认准则的，不应在涉及中国问题上采用双重标准，“7·5”事件不是民族宗教冲突，就像我们不能把“9·11”说成是民族宗教冲突一样。房宁表示，面对很清楚的事实和中国开放、透明公开的做法，有些西方媒体还在臆断和歪曲。这反映出西方某些势力、媒体对中华民族复兴的拒斥。面对这种偏见，我们最好的方法就是更加努力地发展自己，当中国克服重重困难，中国的强大成为事实的时候，这种偏见自然就得到纠正了。
Recent photo of Baitulla mosque in Tianshan district in Urumqi, Xinjiang by Remko Tanis
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