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Turkey strongly condemns attack in China's Urumqi

01 May 2014 21:59 (UTC +04:00)

Chinese authorities blamed extremists for the terrorist attack.

The strike late Wednesday in Urumqi was the third high-profile attack in seven months blamed on Xinjiang extremists that targeted civilians. These attacks, two of them outside the region, have marked a departure from a previous pattern of primarily targeting local authorities in a long-simmering insurgency.

A statement Turkish Foreign Ministry released on Thursday said Ankara hopes that the perpetrators will be brought to justice soon and extended condolences to the family of the killed citizen.

The statement highlighted that Turkey is opposed to every kind of terrorism regardless of its cause.

Tensions between Chinese and ethnic Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang have been simmering for years, particularly since riots in 2009 in Urumqi left nearly 200 people dead, according to official figures.

Beijing blames the violence on overseas-based instigators, but has offered little evidence. Information about events in the area about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) west of Beijing is tightly controlled.

While Beijing faults separatists for raising ethnic tensions, government critics say restrictive and discriminatory policies and practices have alienated the Uighurs. They say Han people have flooded Xinjiang and benefited from its economic growth while Uighurs have felt excluded.

China has smothered Xinjiang with additional security and imposed additional restrictions on Uighur travel rights, culture and religious practices. That, say Uighur activists, is exacerbating the resentments driving the violence.