Even the president of Turkey himself, Recep Tayyip Erdogan—a self-proclaimed defender of Muslims worldwide—told Chinese state media that all Uighur Muslims were “living happily” there, during a visit in 2019 to China. Erdogan made this ridiculous proclamation even as his own Turkish Foreign Ministry had publicly condemned the Chinese government for ethnic cleansing a few months earlier in a strongly-worded statement which stated: “It is no longer a secret that more than 1,000,000 Uighur Turks incurring arbitrary arrests are subjected to torture and political brainwashing in internment camps and prisons.”

QUESTION: Why did Erdogan publicly contradict his own foreign ministry within months? Diplomatic and economic pressures on Turkey's relationship with China.

QUESTION: Why would Erdogan publicly contradict his own ministry's condemnation just months apart? Likely diplomatic pragmatism, but the contradiction is striking.

Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Gl…, loc. 177