Turkey-China wrangle over Uighur Muslims

BANGKOK: A group of suspected Uighur Muslims has become the focus of a diplomatic tug-of-war in Thailand between China and Turkey, with both countries wanting to repatriate them and hundreds of other suspected Uighurs detained in Thailand as illegal immigrants.

The group of 17, all from the same family, were detained by Thai police last March after illegally entering overland from Cambodia, said their lawyer Worasit Piriyawiboon.

Two of the family’s 13 children were born in custody.

The family, who use the name Teklimakan, have spent most of the past year in the main police immigration detention centre in Bangkok.

The group claimed to be Turkish and, while still in detention, were issued with passports by the Turkish Embassy and granted permission to travel to Turkey.

China insists the 17 detainees are Chinese Uighurs who should be returned to the north-west Chinese region of Xinjiang, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, have travelled clandestinely through Southeast Asia en route to Turkey.

Thai National Security Council secretary-general Anusit Kunakorn told Reuters that China and Turkey have asked Thailand for help in repatriating those detained.

There was tension in the Bangkok South Criminal Court yesterday where the case of the 17 suspected Uighurs was being heard. Representatives from the Turkish and Chinese embassies assembled to hear the case. “These are Turkish citizens. They have Turkish passports. These people want to go to Turkey and we've already said they can,” said Ahmet Idem Akay, a Turkish diplomat who attended.

The court will decide on Friday whether to order the group’s release.