China's ambassador summoned after tweet targeting opposition leaders over Uyghur issue

The İYİ Party released an image depicting its leader as a superhero slapping China.

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned China's ambassador over a Twitter post targeting opposition leaders.

Yesterday (April 5), İYİ (Good) Party Chair Meral Akşener and Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş posted tweets marking the 31st anniversary of the Barin Massacre against China's Uyghur minority.

"On the anniversary of their martyrdom, I commemorate our cognates from East Turkestan," Akşener wrote. "We won't forget our cognates under captivity and won't stay silent against the oppression they have suffered. East Turkestan will definitely be independent one day!"

Yavaş wrote, "Although 31 years have passed, we feel the pain of the massacre in East Turkistan as on the first day. I commemorate Barin martyrs with God's mercy."

China's embassy responded to these messages today, saying, "The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is an inseparable part of China's land. This an indisputable fact accepted by the world."

"The Chinese side resolutely opposes and strongly condemns any challenge by any person or power to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese side reserves the right to a justified response," it said in another tweet.

Çin tarafı, herhangi bir kişi veya gücün Çin’in egemenliğine ve toprak bütünlüğüne herhangi bir şekilde meydan okumasına kararlılıkla karşı çıkmakta ve bunu şiddetle kınamaktadır. Çin tarafı, haklı karşılık verme hakkını saklı tutmaktadır.@meral_aksener @mansuryavas06

— Çin Büyükelçiliği Ankara/中国驻土耳其使馆 (@ChinaEmbTurkey) April 6, 2021

China's Ambassador to Ankara, Liu Shaobin, was summoned to the ministry after these tweets.

Meanwhile, the İYİ Party responded to the embassy on Twitter, sharing a picture depicting Akşener as a superhero slapping China while saying "Stop the genocide" in Chinese. (PT/VK)