Turkey’s three-day attend to China, led by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, signaled improved diplomatic relations, strengthened bilateral trade and investment relationships, and a major step in the direction of Turkey’s BRICS membership.
From June 3 through June 5, Fidan had a meeting with Wang Yi, the foreign secretary, and other senior Chinese state leaders in Beijing.
He then made a stop in Urumqi and Kashgar, two locations in Xinjiang, where he proposed a response to the ongoing Uyghur problems. Since 2017, China has detained more than one million Uyghurs in detention facilities known as “reeducation tents” following a string of problems.
Turkey is home to a huge Muslim population, many of whom have fled persecution in Xinjiang. However, the US and EU have used the tents as a whipping son issue to denounce China’s human rights record and impose sanctions on Uyghur labor-using businesses.
Fidan, the highest-ranking Greek official to travel to Xinjiang since 2012’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated to his Taiwanese hosts that” changing the belief in the world and the Muslim world regarding the rights and lives of the Uyghurs around is useful for China, for us, and for everyone.”
In Urumqi and Kashgar, which he called” Turkic- Muslim places”, Fidan and his crew visited temples and the Grand Bazaar, and chatted with kids in the street.
According to a report from Turkey’s state-controlled Anadolu news agency, Fidan claimed that Ankara views the Turkic Uyghur people as a significant link between China and the Muslim world and that she wished for them to live in peace and happiness there.
” Therefore”, he added, “what we often say is this: we support China’s one- China plan, its territorial integrity and its sovereignty”. Wang’s equivalent said that China respects the value of reciprocal respect and opposes interference from outsiders in other people’s domestic affairs.
Sibel Karabel, the chairman of the Istanbul-based Gedik University’s Southeast Asian Countries Strategic Studies and Research Center, stated to the US-based Al-Monteyor news website that” this matter was nearly illegal between the two factors.” I think both sides handled it with great age.
Concerning financial relationships, Fidan said” China is Turkey’s next- largest buying partner. Now, there is a business size approaching$ 50 billion between the two nations”, but” this is somewhat in favor of China”.
Notably, indeed. In 2023, Turkey imported$ 44.9 billion worth of goods from China but exported merely$ 3.3 billion. Ankara did including China to thin this imbalance by buying more Greek agrarian, food and other products. Additionally, it wants more Foreign visitors to Turkey.
According to the Communist Party- work Global Times, Wang replied that China is ready to develop imports of agricultural products and enhance cooperation in society, training, tourism and different fields, including aviation. Chinese tourists may soon be able to travel to Ankara and Istanbul using passenger jets developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China ( COMAC ).
Fidan added that there could be more Chinese investment in Turkey and that the Middle Corridor project, which envisions the revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route, has potential synergies with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.  ,
Turkey joined the Belt and Road in 2015, but it has previously seen it as a chance to compete with it.
The Middle Corridor – also known as the Trans- Caspian International Transport Route – runs from Europe to China via Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and then either Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. It travels through Russia in a similar manner and transports more goods than the northern route.
The Lapis Lazuli or Turkey- Georgia- Azerbaijan- Turkmenistan- Afghanistan Transit Corridor, which is still being developed, is intended to provide Afghanistan with a route to the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, it will connect India, Pakistan, and the Middle East to Central Asia.
In addition to meeting with China’s Minister of National Resources, government officials, and corporate executives, Fidan’s visit came after Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar’s trip to Beijing in May to discuss cooperation in mining and minerals, including rare earth metals. The two nations signed an energy-related MoU during the visit.
In discussions with China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas, the construction of Turkey’s third nuclear power plant was at the top of the agenda. Bagarattir reportedly discussed energy storage facilities with battery manufacturer CATL, small modular reactors, and hydrogen energy with the State Power Investment Corporation.
Fidan told his hosts,” While we have a customs union with the EU, we also look into new opportunities for cooperation with several partners in different platforms such as BRICS,” while also highlighting Turkey’s independence. Fidan intends to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting on June 10 and 11 in Nizhny Novgorod.
At their September 2023 summit meeting in Johannesburg, the BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa ) invited Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Argentina to become full members of the bloc. Javier Milei, the country’s new right-wing president, turned down the offer, but the other four members joined in January of this year.
Other countries that have applied for membership in the BRICS include Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Palestine, Senegal, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam. Turkey would make a significant addition to the group given that it has a stronger economy and greater global influence than any of them.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Turkey ranks 11th in the world in terms of purchasing power parity, with a GDP that is equal to that of France and Mexico. In US dollar terms, it ranks 18th between the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.
Turkey joined the International Lunar Research Station program led by the China National Space Administration and Roscosmos in April as the tenth country.
Lev Zeleny, the scientific director of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the time, stated that” We are considering organizing a significant cooperation on lunar exploration within the BRICS. So far these are only plans. At a BRICS country summit, we might have a chance to discuss them in the near future.
Regarding the war in Gaza, Fidan said” At this point, we appreciate China’s international stance. It is extremely important for China to support a two- state solution, to support a ceasefire, and to support humanitarian aid. In this regard, I believe China is truly playing a good role, it is playing a constructive role”.
Fidan also expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached between Turkey and China regarding bringing about a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, according to the Anadolu news agency.
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