ANKARA - MUSLIMS in many nations have condemned China's crackdown in its Xinjiang region where at least 156 people have been killed in unrest over the past week.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there had been 'an atrocity' against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang while another Turkish minister has called for a boycott of Chinese goods.
About 200 people protested in Australia's capital Canberra on Friday, shouting 'death to Chinese terrorists' and 'freedom for Uighur people' outside the Australian parliament.
Uighur exiles hurled rocks and cobblestones at China's embassy in The Hague this week during another demonstration. Fourteen people were given jail terms of between a week and 10 days by a Dutch court on Thursday for their part in the protests.
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has condemned the 'disproportionate' use of force in Xinjiang and called on China to carry out an 'honest' investigation into the incidents and find those responsible.
OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a Turk, on Wednesday condemned the 'climate of fear that the Uighur populations are forced to live in'. Uighurs are Turkic speakers and Turkey, while recognising Chinese sovereignty in Xinjiang, has been particularly outspoken on the Uighur case.
Trade and Industry Minister Nihat Ergun on Thursday called for a boycott of Chinese products over Xinjiang. 'If the country where we consume the goods does not respect human values, we should reconsider our values,' Mr Ergun said.
Prime Minister Erdogan has called the deaths an 'atrocity' and said he would order a visa to be issued for exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who has twice been rejected one by Turkey. The concern has spread through Muslim communities.
The head of Indonesia's largest Muslim party, the Prosperous Justice Party, called for UN and Western pressure on China to stop the 'slaughter' of Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese. 'China can no longer act as tyrants towards those of their people who are of a different faith,' Mr Tifatul Sembiring said in a statement sent to AFP.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Islamic nation. Many governments have urged restraint. But Japan on Thursday urged China to protect the human rights of Uighurs in Xinjiang. -- AFP
