Upon the invitation of China News Agency, we visited Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region between September 1-6 together with our Foreign News Chief Özgür Altınbaş. Presentations on economic investments were made in Urumqi, Yining and Horgos cities. On the last day of the event, we attended a media workshop. At the workshop, where journalists from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were present, Aydınlık’s presentation was met with interest and was evaluated by the participants as a ‘clear presentation with a high theoretical level’.
In this article, we will present general information about our contacts to Turkish readers. Since we frequently cover China’s planned-publicist economic achievements and the reflection of this process on the Uyghur Autonomous Region in Aydınlık, we will only provide information within the scope of the visit.
Concrete Steps Taken After Fidan’s Visit
Not much attention in the Turkish press: A very important, concrete step was taken during the visit of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to the Uyghur Autonomous Region in June. China Southern, the Chinese airline company, started its Urumqi-Istanbul flights immediately after Mr. Fidan’s visit. This is how we traveled from Türkiye to the Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Let us underline: The Uyghur Autonomous Region is neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. China is the number one target of Salafist organizations in various parts of these countries. More than a thousand people were killed in terrorist acts between 2007 and 2017 alone. The Turkistan Islamic Party, which is also on our country’s list of terrorist organizations, is establishing cells in neighboring states. However, their most important area of organization is the north of Syria. They are conducting armed training especially in the Jisr al-Shughour region. In Aydınlık, we had published the statements of the leaders of these groups: “We are preparing to fight against China.” The same groups attacked a convoy of Turkish Armed Forces on patrol in Idlib on May 27, 2020, and fired bullets at Turkish Armed Forces during “Operation Peace Spring”.
China: Zero Tolerance for Separatist and Bigoted Terrorism!
China follows an uncompromising line against separatist and bigoted terrorism. While the Chinese government maintains freedom of religious and cultural expression, it applies zero tolerance against separatist and bigoted organizations. This is precisely the point that is distorted by those who look at the Uyghur Autonomous Region through Western eyes. In Türkiye, the PKK’s party DEM has the chance to organize as it wishes and exert political influence on the people of the region, while in China, separatist and bigoted organizations cannot find this ‘democracy’.
Second important point: The Chinese state has the will/opportunity to crush terrorism with ‘economic investment’ and a revolutionary program that emphasizes the culture of living together in harmony. You can see this most clearly in the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar, the heart of the Uyghur Autonomous Region. Some streets of the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar, where thousands of shops are located, are reminiscent of the liveliness of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, while others reflect the tranquility of art workshops. The bazaar is so big that it is impossible to visit it in one day. With its centralized and planned economy, the Chinese government strongly encourages production and trade in the Uyghur Autonomous Region. Security and peace are the watchwords for development. In the bazaar, you come across every element of Muslim culture. Craftsmen practicing their profession in their local clothes, young people dancing catch your eye immediately. The atmosphere is almost like a national holiday. When I asked the shopkeepers, “Is today a special day?” they were surprised: ‘This place is like this every day. We produce, we sell, we earn. We make this place a center of commercial attraction.’
Is The Uyghur Language Forbidden?
If you are ever in Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar, don’t come without seeing the sculptures made of wood. We spent minutes examining the exquisite wooden sculptures that Turkish business people, especially restaurant owners, may want to display in their venues. Iranians love melon juice, and the Chinese love watermelon juice. We also saw that there is a lot of interest in watermelon juice in the Uyghur region.
It is a big lie that the Uyghur language is banned. The Uyghur language is used in public institutions, on the street, in magazines, newspapers, television and even on money! There are close to 35,000 mosques in the Uyghur Autonomous Region alone. According to the population ratio, there is one mosque for every 500 people in Xinjiang. Considering that there is one mosque for every thousand people in Türkiye, even this ratio shows that there is no interference with religious belief.
Master Nasreddin On the Streets of Urumqi!
The local government has now decided to use Nasreddin Hodja as a symbol. The word ‘Efendi’ is used for Nasreddin Hodja in the region. Decorations depicting Nasreddin Hodja with his famous donkey can be seen all over the city. He may even greet you from the top of buildings in the center. Be sure to look up as you walk. We also recommend you to taste the coffee that is poured into bread while walking around the bazaar.
Who Rules the Uyghur Autonomous Region?
Erkin Tuniyaz, of Uyghur origin, heads the local administration. Erkin Tuniyaz came to the forefront by making effective presentations and discussions at the UN Human Rights Council in June 2019. Tuniyaz, who came to Türkiye on his return from Geneva, met with Vatan Party Chairman Doğu Perinçek and made detailed statements to Aydınlık. As can be seen, the Uyghur Autonomous Region is ruled by people of Uyghur origin!
Economic Data
The region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023 increased by 6.8% compared to the previous year (China’s total economic growth in the same year was 5.2%). In the last 60 years, economic growth in the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region has increased 160 times and per capita income 30 times. The region’s import and export volume grew by 45.9 percent last year.
There is a 35% increase in the number of projects and a 17% increase in total investment compared to 2023. According to Tuniyaz’s statement in May, in 2023, the Uyghur Autonomous Region ranked in the top five in China with its growth rates. The Chinese government is also directing domestic tourism to the Uyghur Autonomous Region as much as possible. The Uyghur Autonomous Region hosted more than 120 million tourists in the first half of 2024.
How Companies Work
The program prepared by the China News Agency focused on visiting organizations that play an active role in economic development. One of the organizations we visited was a soda/water factory named Muztag. According to Yue Jingchun, the General Manager of the company, the water from the region is transported to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. When we asked the General Manager how the factory contributed to the region, he called a Kyrgyz girl from the village where the water comes from and asked her to make a presentation.
The Chinese government wants the people of the region to be directly involved in trade and production through investments and wants to show this at every opportunity, especially to foreign delegations. Innovation is an obligation that the Chinese government imposes on companies. The Chinese government wants every company to push the boundaries and develop through innovation. We asked Muztag executives, “What is your recent innovation breakthrough?” and received the following answer: “We started to produce a special soda that contains more minerals needed by pregnant women.” Such important details underlie China’s extraordinary economic breakthrough.
A System Where Differences Live in Harmony: Socialism
Liuxingjie, located in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, is described as China’s ‘place where differences live together in harmony and show themselves’. We can give the following example to make it concrete in your mind: Imagine an area 4 times bigger than the Izmir Fairgrounds. In this area, prominent elements of Uyghur, Kazakh, Han, Hui and Uzbek culture are exhibited. We visited this special area until late at night. It was literally like a fair. The Chinese government has made the differences, which the imperialist centers wanted to highlight with a divisive effort, the basic ground of unification and took away the imperialists’ weapons. Speaking of weapons: Police and soldiers do not walk around the city center with guns, as claimed by media outlets such as Turkish “Karar” newspaper, whose all news about the Uyghur Autonomous Region is copied from the Western press. Law enforcement officers are unarmed and are located on the fringes of daily life. In the country where individual armament is not allowed, terrorist attacks were also carried out with knives.
Examples in Agricultural Development
The Chinese government pays special attention to promoting the extraordinarily large areas built for agricultural development. Dozens of crops are produced at the Mountain God Flower Sea Scenic Area in the foothills of the Mountain Gods. The giant farm has no beginning and no end.
The development area in Ulan Burak Village is one such center. In an area close to the Kazakhstan-China border, villagers who lived on their own in cave-like structures in the mountains not many years ago have been turned into the productive power of the giant development area. When we chatted with the elderly, they gave us the following information in summary: ‘This was a barren area. One day the Chinese Communist Party came. They said we will build you a house. We were very happy. Then they brought big agricultural equipment to this area. They gave us the opportunity to cultivate the land. They even had an open-air movie theater in the evenings. They also built a building in the middle of the village and said, ‘The authorities are here. If you have any problems, come here’. They also assigned a special doctor for us inside the building.’
CPC’s Approach to Peasants
The Communist Party of China is presenting the village to foreign delegations as one of the concrete sites of the great energy generated by the unification of the power of the Party and the people. The village now has 2,000 inhabitants. It should be added that the CPC has designed the house plans according to Kazakh culture. As soon as this information was shared, we wanted to enter a house. When we asked our host, Kasımbek Polatcan, “Can you tell us something that surprised you?” and he replied: “We live in nature, but we didn’t know what it could give us. We learned how to use the soil. They told us how much water should be poured into which product. Thus, we learned the right way to do things that we have been doing wrong for years.
‘Service to the Homeland’ Banners
The program includes a giant free trade zone, hospitals and vocational high schools on the border with Kazakhstan. The Chinese government has increased public investment in the border region in line with President Xi Jinping’s emphasis on Ruling the country depends on ruling the border!
In all the public institutions we visited, there were banners and visuals depicting the heroes of the Chinese revolution, the importance of serving the motherland and living together in harmony.
After the program organized by the China News Agency, we left for Beijing, the capital, to attend a program organized by the China Representative Office of the Vatan Party.
Wind Created by Chinese-Speaking Vatan Party Members
The Vatan Party and the Communist Party of China first established directly contact in 1975. There is a strong relationship between the two parties. The Party’s representative office in China is currently headed by Orçun Göktürk. Göktürk is a PhD student at the Beijing University of International Business and Economics. During our contacts in China, both Orçun Göktürk and Aydınlık Foreign News Chief Özgür Altınbaş spoke Chinese, which surprised the authorities. We can say that the efficiency of the meetings doubled thanks to this. The Vatan Party has recently enabled 11 of its members to learn Chinese. This is a very important investment for the development of Turkish-Chinese relations. Because there are very few Turkish people in China who speak Chinese.
China Daily-Aydınlık Newspaper Cooperation
Our first meeting in Beijing was with China Daily, one of the largest newspapers in China.
The Aydınlık delegation was welcomed by Guo Yali, Deputy General Manager of China Daily, and Ke Rongyi, Website Director of the New Media Department. Both organizations decided to prepare joint projects. We will announce the details soon.
Our second meeting was with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the most important institutions determining China’s foreign policy. It is called ‘Academy’, but it should not be understood that it works like the institutes affiliated to universities in Türkiye. The Academy has 2 universities. It also has 3 thousand employees. The organization also has many experts on Türkiye. We had a productive meeting with Prof. Wei Min, who is in charge of the Türkiye Desk at the West Asia and Africa Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and 5 experts.
Another meeting was with Contemporary World, a theoretical publication of the Chinese Communist Party. The Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, Lv Xuejun, welcomed our delegation very warmly. He spoke enthusiastically about the contributions of Vatan Party Leader Doğu Perinçek to scientific socialist theory and asked us to convey his greetings and respects. After a fruitful meeting, both organizations decided to work together. Contemporary World Magazine has been exchanging articles with Teori magazine in Türkiye for some time.
In the meetings, we explained the imperialist siege against our country and the economic difficulties. We pointed out the importance of the solutions produced by the Vatan Party for Türkiye and the peoples of Asia. We emphasized the importance of rapidly strengthening China’s relations with Türkiye, which faces the same threats. We described the Western power in the Turkish media with concrete examples and explained what needs to be done in the struggle to defend the truth. Chinese media executives raised questions about how to overcome the economic difficulties in Türkiye and the purpose of the BRICS membership application.
When we put the map on the table showing the US bases and military installations around our country, the first question asked was: The US and Western powers are trying to encircle us on all fronts. We are creating footholds. Why don’t you do so?
With its so-called ‘balancing’ policy, the Justice and Development Party not only aggravates the US-EU threats against our country but also misses great opportunities in Asia. A foreign policy that does not inspire confidence, zig-zags and creates hesitations is not seen as ‘balanced’, but as an attitude of compromise and submission.
*This article was published in Turkish in Aydınlık Newspaper on September 16, 2024. For Turkish source: https://www.aydinlik.com.tr/koseyazisi/cin-teror-sorununu-bakin-nasil-cozdu-489093
