Europe, July 09: The violence in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang continued for the fourth day on Wednesday.
There here have been demonstrations of solidarity for the Uighur community across Europe.
In the Turkish capital of Ankara, people protested by laying a black wreath outside the Chinese Embassy.
Uighurs are originally Turkic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that he will ask the UN Security Council to end the violence.
Meanwhile in France, the Uighur community demonstrated in front of the Eiffel Tower.
In Munich in Germany, the Uighur World Congress demanded the G8 issue a “meaningful declaration” on their plight while in Sydney, a group of protesters gathered outside the Chinese consulate, carrying banners and chanting slogans.
Chinese authorities are also blaming the Internet for fanning Uighur anger. They have said that the foreign activists incited violent protests in Xinjiang with the help of Internet.
Uighur groups used the web to rapidly get out images from what they say was a provocative government crackdown on a peaceful demonstration.
Xinjiang’s police chief Liu Yaohua has described Internet as the main medium that foreign forces used to communicate with Uighurs in China.
To avoid any further misuse of the service and to maintain social stability Chinese government has already blocked any access to information on the Internet.
Meanwhile, Uighur political activist Rebiya Kadeer claimed that China is putting down the protests in Xinjiang with a heavy hand. She said that the violence was even worse than what the Chinese media had been reporting.
“Of course the Chinese state media is now stating that 157 are killed and that more than 1,500 were arrested but the information we got from people there is that more than 400 Uighurs were killed. Some sources state that the arrested Uighurs is more than stated by the Chinese media, up to several thousand,” she claimed.
–Agencies