her father her uncle
her grandfather half of shemsey kicks
family was arrested in china
because they are weakest
for weeks shamsia has been joining
protests
in front of the chinese consulate in
istanbul
everyone here has missing relatives
everyone here hopes for a sign of life
these photos are all we have we are not
dangerous we just want our families back
i don't understand why they're not being
released
and why nobody talks to us maybe they
are afraid of us
or afraid of the truth
five thousand files are piled up in this
car
five thousand disappeared uyghurs
shemsie and the other demonstrators have
tried many times
to hand the documents over to the
chinese consulate
but they have not been admitted not
today either
at age 15 shemsey came to istanbul
she grew up in xinjiang the home of the
muslim uyga minority in china
her father wanted her to go to high
school in turkey
now she is studying she wants to be a
nurse
[Music]
shemsiere has not had contact with her
family for years
a friend of her mother's who also lives
here in istanbul
is the only connection to her old life
from what i know my father was arrested
in may 2017
and taken to an internment camp in
xinjiang
for re-education as the chinese
authorities call it
i think he's in a terrible situation i
see many videos on social media
where uyghurs are forced to labor in the
camps and in factories
one of these people could be my father
stories like shemseer's can be heard by
the dozen
in the streets of zetimborno the
istanbul district
is the center of the exiled uyga
community in turkey
but now their sanctuary seems to be at
risk
turkey could soon ratify its extradition
treaty with china
many uighurs who used to feel safe here
are now afraid
yusuf amar for example he works as a
cook
in a uyghur restaurant the thought of
possible deportations worries him
even more than all the economic problems
brought by the coronavirus crisis
if turkey sends us back to china they
will put us in jail forever
or shoot us dead
[Music]
lawyer ibrahim argen represents many
uiga refugees
he has a thick folder with extradition
requests from china
there have been no deportations so far
says argen
but pressure from beijing is growing
especially during the coronavirus
pandemic chinese investments have become
very important for turkey's troubled
economy
two major chinese mobile phone companies
have recently announced that they want
to invest here
and turkey relies on the chinese-made
vaccine
i think china uses all of that to exert
pressure on turkey
chinese capital has become increasingly
important for the turkish economy
in recent years kompot for example
one of the country's largest container
terminals is now majority owned by a
chinese consortium
so is istanbul sultan selenbridge
does this make turkey more accessible to
chinese interests
the ruling aka party denies that
this extradition treaty with china is
about criminals we have similar
agreements with 32 other countries
it is extremely wrong to present it as
an agreement against our uyghur brothers
and sisters
has always been grateful to the turkish
government for its support of the
uyghurs but now she feels
that something is changing should the
extradition agreement with china be
ratified
she fears her name could also appear on
a deportation list
i'm now an activist the fact that i
search for my father and other relatives
makes me a criminal in china's eyes
and now i'm afraid that what has
happened to others could one day happen
to me
or but chemcia does not want to give up
her protest
be quiet disappear in the crowd
she wants for the fate of her father and
that of the many other disappeared wigas
to not be forgotten