Europe Demonstrations Support Uighurs in China

In response to the Xinjiang riots, demonstrations sprung up across Europe on Wednesday supporting the Uighur [pronounced WEE-ger] community in China. And the violence in Xinjiang also forced head-of-state Hu Jintao to abandon plans to attend the G8 summit in Italy.

In Ankara, hundreds of Turks protested at the Chinese Embassy, carrying Uighur flags and chanting slogans against the Chinese regime.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his country will ask the U.N. Security Council to discuss ways of ending ethnic violence in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

[Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey]:
"Turkey is a non-permanent member of the United Nations' Security Council for 2009 and 2010. There are duties that fall on us on behalf of humanity. We have to and we will raise this issue on that platform."

About forty members of the Uighur community in France gathered in front of the Eiffel tower to demonstrate their solidarity with their compatriots in Urumqi.

One Uighur, who was wearing a mask and only wanted to be identified by his first name, said that the Uighur's cause wasn't very well known and that they wanted to change that.




[Oyghan, Demonstrator]:
"We have to support the Uighurs. They survive, like the Tibetans, they don't live, they survive, so you have to help and protect us before we disappear. We want the international community to send a delegation to investigate to find the origins of the real problems and ask the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to express his position."




The Germany-based "Uighur World Congress" demanded in Munich that the G8 issue a "meaningful declaration" on their plight.

[Asgar Can, UWC Vice President]:
"We know that Chancellor (Angela) Merkel will address the issue at the G8 leaders' meeting (in Italy). We hope for a meaningful declaration there."

A day earlier, Merkel had said she would discuss the unrest in China's Xinjiang region with head-of-state Hu Jintao. But Hu was forced to make an early return to China in an attempt to contain the situation.

Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China. It is strategically located at the borders of Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.

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