Turquía, el primo de zumosol de los uygures

Tensions ran dry at the Chinese embassy in Ankara this week after Turkey rebuked the Chinese ambassador, Liu Shaobin, for a tweet condemning two opposition politicians. They had spoken out on China’s treatment of the Uyghurs. Then the embassy’s water supply was temporarily cut off — routine maintenance says the municipality, “a huge message to China'' according to local journalist Ibrahim Haskoloğlu. Cüneyt Öztürk, a board member at Ankara’s water utility, tweeted mockingly about the embassy’s water bill. The whole thing never happened, say Chinese state media. 

China’s already fuming about the failed extradition of the Turkey-based Uyghur activist Abudukadir Yapuquan. An extradition treaty is awaiting parliamentary ratification on Turkey’s side: the big Uyghur diaspora in Turkey, often seen protesting outside Chinese diplomatic buildings, is worried that Turkey will “trade the Uyghur people” for economic ties, says Burhan Uluyol, a campaigner. 

Meanwhile, China’s offering to build a huge new $9 billion canal parallel to the Bosporus. What that means for the embassy’s water supply is another story.