ANKARA: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping began a visit to Turkey on Tuesday saying that Beijing hopes stability would be restored in the region, while insisting that countries be allowed to handle their own domestic affairs.
"We hope that stability and normal order will be restored in relevant countries in the region as soon as possible," Xi told Turkish President Abdullah Gul, referring to West Asia and north Africa but without naming individual countries, according to state news agency Xinhua.
He added that Beijing was willing to make "unremitting efforts" to promote peace in the region but stressed that it "supports" countries' efforts to deal with "their domestic affairs independently."
Xi's visit came after China and Russia caused international consternation, including Turkey's, when they vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Damascus' crackdown on protestors in Syria.
Before the Chinese leader's arrival, about 100 activists from China's Uighur minority also staged a flag-burning protest near the hotel where Xi was staying in central Ankara.
The demonstrators burned Chinese flags and chanted slogans against Beijing's treatment of the Muslim Turkic-speaking Uighur people in its far-western Xinjiang region as the riot police kept them away from Xi's hotel.
A predominantly Muslim country, Turkey shares linguistic and religious links with the Uighur community, which has several associations here.
Ankara accepts China's sovereignty over Xinjiang, but heavily criticised the 2009 violence in the region, denouncing what it described as "atrocities."
Trade was among key agenda items during the talks between Turkish officials and Xi, who is widely tipped to become China's next president.
Sources in the Turkish presidency said several cooperation deals in agriculture, finance and banking were signed Tuesday to strengthen strategic partnership between Ankara and Beijing.
The two countries' central banks also inked a currency swap agreement worth 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion), in Beijing's move to promote international usage of the Chinese currency.
The dispute between Iran and world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme is also expected to figure high during Xi's visit.
Turkey has repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row with Iran.
In the Turkish parliament, Xi praised Turkey's and China's endeavours with regard to problems worldwide.
"In recent years, Turkey and China have been playing an important role on international and regional matters," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency during a meeting with parliament speaker Cemil Cicek.
On the last stop of a tour that has taken him to the United States and Ireland, Xi, flanked by a large number of businessmen, will attend a business forum in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Trade between Turkey and China has soared from $1.0 billion in 2000 to $19.5 billion in 2010, according to official figures. But the balance of trade is heavily in China's favour.
Turkey largely exports raw materials and chemicals to China, while intermediate goods constitute 76 percent of Turkish imports from the Asian giant, according to the foreign ministry.
Xi told Gul that Beijing is encouraging Chinese firms to import more from Turkey, and welcomes Turkish enterprises to invest in China, according to Xinhua.
Energy could be a key area in the two countries' future relations but analysts note that both are dependent on oil and gas and compete for Caspian-based energy resources.
China and Turkey have set a timetable to increase their trade volume to $50 billion by 2015 and to $100 billion by 2020.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.