Chinese foreign minister meets Turkish PM's envoy on bilateral ties

BEIJING, Aug. 30 -- China is ready to advance cooperation with

Turkey in combating terrorism to better fulfill the common task of safeguarding

national unification and territorial integrity and opposing separatism, Foreign

Minister Yang Jiechi said here Sunday.

Yang made the remarks when meeting in Beijing with Turkish State Minister

Zafer Caglayan, who paid the visit to China as special envoy of Turkish Prime

Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The visit "indicated Turkey's political will to further its relationship

with China," Yang said during the one-hour meeting, adding China attached great

importance to promoting the ties with Turkey.

China was ready to strengthen the bilateral relations on the basis of

universally recognized norms of international relations, he said.

Yang said China always held that safeguarding the overall development of

the bilateral relations could serve the fundamental interests of the two

peoples.

Both China and Turkey were faced with common tasks of protecting national

unification and territorial integrity. The two countries enjoyed long-standing

coordination in security fields including anti-terrorism, Yang said.

China would work with Turkey to boost the cooperation in this regard, so as

to better carry out the common task of safeguarding national unification and

territorial integrity and opposing separatism, he said.

Yang also said that the July 5 riot in Urumqi was neither an ethnic problem

nor a religious issue, but an incident plotted and organized by the "East

Turkestan" separatist forces both inside and outside China. It had a profound

political background.

The riot, taking place on July 5 in capital of the northwest China's

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, left 197 people dead and more than 1,600

others injured.

Yang said the "East Turkestan" separatist forces' nature and harm was

disclosed in the riot as it seriously jeopardized the lives, property of the

Chinese people of various ethnic groups, and the local stability.

The measures taken by the Chinese government to deal with the incident

according to law won wholehearted support of the local people of all ethnic

groups, Yang said.

Caglayan reiterated Turkey's adherence to the one-China policy and its

respect for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The two peoples had a long history of friendship, and the two countries

enjoyed "sound cooperation" in areas such as fighting terrorism, Caglayan said,

adding Turkey would like to keep close contact with China in this area.

"Turkey will endeavor to develop a strong relationship with China, through

deepening bilateral cooperation," he said.

Caglayan, who arrived in Beijing Saturday, also said the success of Turkish

President Abdullah Gul's visit to China in June had exerted profound influence

on the bilateral relations.

During his four-day stay in China, Caglayan was also scheduled to meet

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and visit Xinjiang, according to Chinese Foreign

Ministry.