Uyghur Diaspora Leader Condemns Istanbul Shooting, Backs Turkey

[TomSea]

Uyghur Diaspora Leader Condemns Istanbul Shooting, Backs Turkey

As Turkish officials were quoted in their state media on Thursday as saying the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub was probably from China’s Muslim Uyghur minority, the leader of the Uyghur diaspora voiced empathy with the Turks and gratitude for that country’s role as haven for Uyghur refugees.

“We have been praying that this abominable terrorist should not have been one of us,” World Uyghur Congress (WUC) President Rebiya Kadeer said in an interview with RFA’s Uyghur Service.

“I could not wait for the final confirmation of his identity. On the behalf of our people who do not have any way to express themselves that I wanted to let my Turkish brothers know that people of East Turkestan are one of the peoples who profoundly felt the pains of 39 people who were killed in this attack,” she said.

East Turkestan is the name Uyghur’s use for their Central Asian region, which Beijing rules and refers to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Continued: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/turkey-kadeer-01052017173348.html