Uighurs on Twitter

Most Muslim countries have remained silent since reports began circulating last year about the Chinese government’s detention of 1 million Muslim Uighur minorities in Xinjiang, China’s semi-autonomous region in the Northwest. Many of those same countries have close trade ties with China.

Yet on Saturday, Turkey condemned China for holding hundreds of thousands of Uighurs in re-education camps, where they face “torture and political brainwashing.” The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the reintroduction of internment camps a “great shame for humanity.”

“We call on the international community and the Secretary General of the United Nations to take effective measures in order to bring to an end this human tragedy in Xinjiang,” spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

Aksoy went on to claim that the agency had learned that famous Uighur singer Abdurehim Heyit, whom Chinese officials imprisoned over a controversial song, had died while serving his sentence. Heyit was well-known in China for his skill at playing the dutar, a two-stringed lute, and performed with national arts troupes. He was detained for a song he performed called “Fathers,” which took its lyrics from a Uighur poem about the sacrifices of ancestors, according to the BBC. The lyrics “martyrs of war” caused the Chinese government to view Heyit as a terrorist threat and sentence him to eight years in prison.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded Monday by calling Turkey’s accusations “vile.” China Radio International’s Turkish language service posted a 25-second video on Sunday that purportedly showed Heyit was still alive. In the video, Heyit is seen in front of a gray wall, speaking haltingly. “My name is Abdurehim Heyit. Today is February 10, 2019. I’m in the process of being investigated for allegedly violating the national laws. I’m now in good health and have never been abused.”