Turkey may be far from China, but there may be a connection between the two countries with the news that Shanghai police arrested ten Turkish nationals for supplying fake passports to ethnic Uighurs described as “terror suspects”.

The arrests were made in November when 11 Chinese nationals were arrested for trying to leave the country by paying RMB 60,000 for tampered Turkish passports, nine of whom are said to be “terror suspects” from Xinjiang.

A tenuous relationship between Uighur and Turkish interests can seen in other recent developments involving border crossings. Last November, a number of Uighurs escaped from a jail in Thailand after being arrested for attempting to enter the country on claims of being from Turkey, a claim that was not recognized by the local Turkish embassy.

In October, 155 Uighurs were arrested in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysian authorities for using fake Turkish passports.

A massive crackdown on terrorism in Xinjiang, a conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives, had recently led to a ban on the wearing of burqas by the local Uighur majority as a way to control public safety.

Photo: the Nanfang