China Rejects Turkey's Call For UN Talks

BEIJING (AFP) - China on Thursday rejected a call by Turkey to discuss deadly unrest in the Xinjiang region at the United Nations Security Council, saying the incident was an internal affair.

"The Chinese government has taken decisive measures according to law," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. "This is completely China's internal affair, there is no reason to seek a Security Council discussion."

His comments came after Turkey called on China to secure a quick end to what it called an "atrocity" in the northwest Xinjiang region, where riots that erupted Sunday in the region's capital Urumqi led to days of violence. The unrest has seen 156 dead, more than 1,000 injured and 1,434 arrested so far, Chinese authorities have said.

In televised remarks Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the events amounted to an "atrocity."

"We expect ... the immediate implementation of the necessary measures in line with universal human rights," he said. He added that Turkey, a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, would ask the U.N. body to discuss ways of ending the violence.

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