Turkey is accused of extraditing Uighur Muslims to China in exchange for COVID-19 vaccines

The Turkish government has been accused of agreeing to deport Uighur Muslims to China to access COVID-19 vaccines. In recent years, China has forcefully cracked down on Uighurs around the world, using their religion to cite a national security threat. Turkey is home to the largest number of diasporic Uighurs in the world. In late December 2020, Beijing ratified a 2017 deal with Ankara to see people with criminal charges extradited to China. Turkey is yet to ratify it, and opposition politicians in the country raised concerns that Beijing was withholding the shipments of COVID-19 vaccines from the Chinese firm…