State-run agency says police looking for another
ISTANBUL — Turkish police have detained six people in Istanbul for allegedly spying on prominent Uyghurs and are looking for another, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Tuesday.
The seven people are also accused of spying on Uyghur-related associations and institutions and passing on information to Chinese intelligence. The arrests were based on an investigation conducted by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s terrorism and organized-crime bureau, according to Anadolu.
The report did not specify when the arrests took place or the nationalities of the suspects. But local newspaper Sabah claimed that all the suspects are foreigners.
Turkey is believed to be home to the largest group of Uyghurs outside Central Asia, with a population of roughly 50,000. It shares ethnic, linguistic and religious ties with the Uyghur community in China. As a result, Turkish authorities and the public are greatly sympathetic to the plight of the Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region.
Turkey has shaped a foreign policy that aims to strike a balance between its Western allies and rising power China. It is supportive of China’s Belt and Road Initiative but also resistant to pressure from Beijing to extradite Uyghurs from Turkey.
An extradition treaty was signed between the two countries in 2017 but has awaited ratification by the Turkish parliament since 2019.
Turkish authorities have stepped up operations against spy networks in recent years. In January, police detained 34 people suspected of spying on Palestinians living in Turkey for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. In 2022, authorities arrested several Iranians on suspicion of planning to kill Israelis in Turkey.
