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President Gül is seen shaking hands with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is on an official visit to Turkey. (Photo: Today's Zaman)
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is in Turkey for an official visit, has said that Turkey plays a key role in addressing regional problems, including problems in Afghanistan and the Iranian nuclear dispute. He emphasized that Turkish-Chinese relations have developed to an important degree thanks to the role Turkey plays in the region. Turkish leaders had talks with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Ankara on Monday for a three-day visit, discussing bilateral and regional issues.
The Chinese vice president's visit to Turkey comes at a time when there is increased concern over a brutal crackdown on the opposition in Syria by the Syrian regime. Turkey states the world cannot remain silent vis-à-vis Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on the opposition movement. But China, along with Russia, recently vetoed a UN Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan aimed at ending the conflict and calling on Assad to step down.
Xi, who is expected to become Chinese president next year, met with President Abdullah Gül and Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek before traveling to İstanbul for talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkey has sought to mediate between Western nations and Iran in a dispute over Iran's nuclear program and has taken a leading role in pressuring Assad to step down. Both issues closely concern permanent UN Security Council member China.
After a meeting with Çiçek at Parliament, Xi, stating that both Turkey and China are G-20 member countries and emerging world powers considering their economic achievements of the last decade, underlined that Turkey and China aim to strengthen bilateral political, economic and security relations as well as encourage solidarity between the Turkish and Chinese communities.
Meanwhile, Çiçek recalling a strategic cooperation agreement China and Turkey signed in 2010, noted that closer cooperation between the two countries would benefit not only themselves but also the region and the world.
Also on Tuesday, after Xi and Gül concluded their meeting, China and Turkey signed an economic cooperation agreement at the Çankaya presidential palace.
China is Turkey's largest trade partner in the Far East and its third biggest trade partner after Germany and Russia. The bilateral trade volume between Turkey and China has increased 21-fold in the past 10 years, reaching $24 billion. While Turkey exports $2.5 billion worth goods to China, Chinese exports to Turkey amount to $21.5 billion.
The two countries are hoping to reach $50 billion in 2015 and $100 billion in trade volume by 2020. The number of Chinese tourists has increased by 67 percent since 2009, exceeding 100,000 tourists for the first time in 2011.
Uyghurs protest against Chinese vice president in Ankara
On Tuesday morning, there was a small protest against Xi's visit in Ankara by a group of Uyghur exiles living in Turkey who fled from China's crackdown on the minority group in the country's autonomous Xinjiang region.
A group of 100 Uyghur exiles, who had gathered at Ankara's Hilton Hotel where Xi stayed Monday night, set two Chinese flags on fire and trampled their remains in a protest against the Chinese crackdown. The protest was staged under tight security by police and ended without personal incidents.
The position of the Turkic-speaking Uyghur minority in China is a potentially troubling topic between Turkey and China.
The Chinese government has made serious efforts to raise the living standards of all the ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including the Uyghur,” Xi said in an interview to the Sabah daily on Monday.
Chinese vice president lauds Turkey
