It looks like another slow news day. Turkiye’s FM Hakan Fidan is in China for a 3-day visit, his first since becoming FM last year. He was in Beijing yesterday and today and tomorrow will be in Urumqi and Kashgar. Xinjiang is always a sensitive issue in the bilateral relationship; the Uighurs are ethnically a Turkic people so Turkish leaders have to strike a balance between addressing their plight in Xinjiang while not offending Beijing. Not an easy ask.
In February 2019, Turkiye MOFA spokesman Hami Aksoy gave a sharp rebuke to China on Xinjiang, saying:
It is no longer a secret that more than one million Uighur Turks incurring arbitrary arrests are subjected to torture and political brainwashing in internment camps and prisons. Uighurs who are not detained in these camps are under heavy pressure.
Our kinsmen and citizens of Uighur origin living abroad cannot get news from their relatives in the region. Thousands of children have been removed from their parents and became orphans.
The reintroduction of internment camps in the XXIst century and the policy of systematic assimilation against the Uighur Turks carried out by the authorities of China is a great shame for humanity.
We expressed our views on the tragedy in the Xinjiang region to the Chinese authorities at all levels.
Five months later during a July 2019 state visit from President Erogan, Chinese state media paraphrased him telling Xi:
It is a fact that the peoples of China's Xinjiang region live happily in China's development and prosperity… Turkey does not permit any person to incite disharmony in the Turkey-China relationship. Turkey firmly opposes extremism and is willing to increase mutual political trust with China and strengthen security cooperation.
So, a tough line for the FM to walk on this trip.
Fidan highlights Turkish-Chinese ties in ‘changing world order’ in Beijing - Daily Sabah. This gives a breakdown of his trip. On the visit to Kashgar and Urumqi:
Fidan's visit to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will be the highest-level visit from Türkiye since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then prime minister, visited the region in April 2012.
Turkish FM visits China to 'enrich bilateral ties' - Global Times. This article frames the visit as Turkiye coming to Beijing post-CASCF to coordinate with China and the Arab League on Gaza:
Chinese analysts said that apart from boosting bilateral cooperation, China will strengthen cooperation and coordination with Turkey and other major powers in the region to jointly promote a sustainable cease-fire in the continuing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
It also has an interesting bit about Fidan talking with interim Iranian FM Ali Bagheri Kani prior to his travel to China:
On Sunday, a day ahead of Fidan's visit to China, Iranian Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Turkey's top diplomat called on Muslim states to employ everything in their capacity to support Palestinians and stop the "crimes" by Israel in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
In a phone call, the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers discussed the latest developments in Gaza, particularly in its southernmost Rafah city.
Bagheri Kani called for greater cooperation among Muslim states to support the "oppressed people of Gaza," adding that Muslim states should not spare any opportunity to back Palestinians. Fidan, for his part, urged greater coordination among Muslim states with regard to the issue of Palestine.
Bahrain’s Vision 2030 gets boost with China investment deal -News of Bahrain. Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Company signed an MoU with China Investment Cooperation (CIC) during the King’s visit to Beijing. This is on the heels of the $1 billion fund established in April by Bahrain’s Investcorp that included CIC. This might partially explain the comprehensive strategic partnership that Bahrain just signed?
40 Years of UAE & China: Towards global cooperation & economic growth - Emirates News Agency. A state of the bilateral from UAE Ambassador to China Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi.