ISTANBUL (Reuters) – China’s ambassador to Ankara was summoned to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday over social media posts responding to opposition politicians who had criticised Chinese treatment of Uighurs, a foreign ministry source said.
In response to IYI Party leader Meral Aksener and Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas, member of the main opposition CHP, the Chinese Embassy had said on Twitter: “The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is an inseparable part of Chinese soil.”
“The Chinese side determinedly opposes any person of power that in any way challenges China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and strongly condemns this,” it added. “The Chinese side reserves its legitimate right to respond.”
(Reporting by Yesim Dikmen and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
