Turkey has called on China to close its Muslim internment camps, which are a “great embarrassment for humanity”. The country’s demands come after the death of Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit in custody. Mr Heyit was thought to be serving an eight-year sentence in the Xinjiang region, where up to one million Uighur Muslims are being detained.
The Uighurs are a Muslim minority who speak Turkic, a language similar to Turkish.
They are based in the north-west Xinjiang region of China, which has come under fierce surveillance from Chinese authorities.
Beijing says the “vocational education centres” help people stay clear of terrorism and allow them to be reintegrated into society.
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said: “The systematic assimilation policy of Chinese authorities towards Uighur Turks is a great embarrassment for humanity.
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“It is no longer a secret that more than one million Uighur Turks – who are exposed to arbitrary arrests – are subjected to torture and political brainwashing in concentration centres and prisons.
“Uighurs who are not detained in the camps are also under great pressure.
“We’ve learned with great sorrow that dignified poet Abdurehim Heyit, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for his compositions, died in the second year of his imprisonment.
“This tragic incident has further strengthened the Turkish public’s reaction to the serious human rights violations in Xinjiang region.
”Turkey called on the international community and the UN secretary general, António Guterres, “to take effective steps to end the human tragedy in Xinjiang region”.
Adrian Zenz, lecturer at the European School of Culture and Theology, said the comments from Turkey are a “major new development.”
“A major outcry among the Muslim world was a key missing piece in the global Xinjiang row,” he said.
“In my view, it seems that China’s actions in Xinjiang are finally crossing a red line among the world’s Muslim communities, at least in Turkey, but quite possibly elsewhere.”
Released detainees said they have received indoctrination in Communist Party slogans, little food, beatings and were forced to work.
US lawmakers are currently considering sanctions against the Chinese officials who are involved in the detention of the Uighurs.