Turkish President Erdogan in Beijing amid ethnic tensions

Uighurs share close linguistic, cultural and religious ties with Turks.

Erdogan, who is meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, will focus on expansion of economic ties by negotiating the controversial plan ofbuying a Chinese long-range missile system.

The President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to commence his much anticipated visit to China.

In this photo by Ng Han Guan, a child plays with Chinese and Turkish national flags before a welcome ceremony for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“He said that… Turkey will not allow anyone to use Turkey’s territory to do anything to harm China’s national interests and security”, Zhang said.

China, which denies mistreating Uighurs, has repeatedly attempted to link Uighurs to jihadist violence in Syria and Iraq.

In an op-ed in the state-run Global Times writer Wen Dao on Wednesday accused Turkish diplomats of providing “assistance to smuggle Xinjiang Uighur terrorists into the Middle East”.

As tensions over the refugees mounted this month, activists stormed the Thai consulate in Istanbul and burnt the Chinese flag outside Beijing’s consulate in the city.

Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, agreed in principle in 2013 to buy an air missile defense system from China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation, stirring US and Western concerns about security and the compatibility of the weaponry with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation systems.

A final deal has been elusive, with Erdogan noting “impediments” have emerged after an initial Chinese proposal, but he said the issue will be on the agenda in Beijing.

“On the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit, political trust and practical cooperation, I believe that your [addressing Erdoğan] visit will help to advance the development of China-Turkey relations”, Li said.

About 100 Turkish business leaders and investors are accompanying Mr Erdogan on the visit which ends on Thursday.

China and Turkey are both trying to increase influence in their respective regions and both are members of the Group of 20 leading advanced and developing economies.

“We consistently advocate that China and Turkey should support each other on major issues and deepen our strategic cooperative relationship”, Xi told Erdogan.

Since his first election win of 2003, diplomatic relations – established between the two countries in 1971 – have significantly improved, peaking over the last 10 years through several high-level bilateral visits.