Turkish Airlines Announces Scheduled Flights to Urumqi Amid Intensified Chinese “Xinjiang Visits” Campaign

Uyghur Times | February 11, 2026

Turkish Airlines (THY) has officially announced that it will begin operating scheduled flights to Urumqi, also known as Urumchi, the capital of the Uyghur region under Chinese control, a move that comes amid intensified efforts by Chinese diplomatic missions in Türkiye to organize state-backed “Xinjiang visits” for Uyghurs living abroad.

According to a statement published on February 10, 2026, at 15:50:27 on the official website of Türkiye’s Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), Turkish Airlines issued a “New Route Announcement,” stating: “Our company has decided to launch scheduled flights to Urumchi, People’s Republic of China, based on market conditions and operational capabilities.”

The announcement coincides with a renewed campaign by the Chinese Embassy in Türkiye and the Chinese Consulate General in Istanbul to organize group visits to the Uyghur homeland.

Chinese Consulate Organizes Group Visits

In an official statement, the Chinese Consulate General in Istanbul reported that on the evening of January 3, Consul General Wei Xiaodong personally visited Istanbul Airport to see off more than 40 “ethnic minority overseas Chinese” who were participating in a consulate-organized trip to Xinjiang to visit relatives.

During the send-off ceremony, Wei conveyed New Year greetings and praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s September visit to the region marking the 70th anniversary of the so-called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. He claimed that Xinjiang had achieved “remarkable economic and social development” under Communist Party leadership and encouraged participants to “share and promote” what they observe upon returning to Türkiye, presenting themselves as a bridge between China and Türkiye.

Chinese state media, including China News and other major outlets, widely reported on the event, portraying it as evidence of stability and openness in the region.

Allegations of Coercion and Propaganda

However, many Uyghurs and human rights advocates argue that these visits are neither spontaneous nor fully voluntary. According to multiple testimonies, Chinese authorities have pressured Uyghurs abroad by forcing their parents or relatives in the homeland to contact them and urge them to return for visits—often implying consequences if they refuse. This pressure reportedly targets even individuals who have never engaged in political or human rights advocacy.

Several individuals who participated in such visits reported being interrogated upon arrival in Urumchi. They said they were questioned about other Uyghurs abroad and asked to promise to share “positive narratives” about a “beautiful Xinjiang.” Some were reportedly encouraged to distribute photos and videos portraying Chinese police and authorities as benevolent and conditions as normal. Such material has later appeared in Chinese state media reports claiming there are no restrictions on movement, no repression, and no genocide.

Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated: “Uyghurs who were on these tours reported being forced to take part in propaganda activities, such as being provided a script—with pinyin, or phonetic notations for those not fluent in Mandarin Chinese—praising the Communist Party for its policies.”

Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project in Canada, told Uyghur Times: “I believe this is an intentional campaign by the Chinese government aimed at whitewashing the genocide by using selected Uyghurs as propaganda tools. The Chinese government has long created Potemkin villages in cities and regions for foreign tourists and visitors to see, with the expectation that they will report back a carefully curated and misleading narrative.”

A Broader “Normalization” Strategy

On December 3, 2025, the Chinese Embassy in Türkiye issued a rare Uyghur-language notice titled “Notice on the Release of the Uyghur-Language Version of Passport/Travel Document Application Requirements.” While presented as a service measure, activists noted that official Uyghur-language notices from Chinese diplomatic missions are extremely rare and viewed the move as part of a broader effort to project an image of normalcy and freedom of movement.

China has also relaxed or lifted visa restrictions for citizens of many countries to attract visitors. On the final day of 2025, Türkiye announced it would cancel visa requirements for Chinese citizens, a decision that sparked criticism from government opponents and Uyghur advocates.

Tohti commented: “Because the Chinese state seeks to whitewash its ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs, it is leveraging total surveillance control to relax restrictions and stage choreographed ‘normalcy’ tours aimed at erasing the genocide label and refurbishing its global image as a rising superpower.”

Uyghur activists and researchers have long warned that tourism and expanded international commercial engagement with the region risk reinforcing Beijing’s narrative portraying East Turkistan as “stable and prosperous,” diverting attention from allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity, mass surveillance, arbitrary detention, and family separation.

Human rights organizations have previously criticized China’s international tourism campaigns, including the promotion of “Xinjiang tourism” at major travel exhibitions in London. Critics argue that such campaigns present carefully curated images while repression continues. Some have described these initiatives as “genocide tourism.”

Impact on the Uyghur Diaspora

In a recent analysis published by Uyghur Times, Uyghur writer Alp argued that these organized visits signal not the end of repression, but a new phase in Beijing’s strategy.

“These visits do not indicate that the oppression in the region has ended,” Alp wrote. “Rather, they show that China has entered a new stage of forming a ‘mask’ to hide its own crimes. True normalization will begin not through government organization, but on the day when every Uyghur can go to their homeland freely, without fear, and on their own.”

Alp further analyzed the impact of these visits within the diaspora, identifying several effects:

• Internal division: Fostering suspicion and friction between “those who can go” and “those who cannot,” reinforcing a “good Uyghur/bad Uyghur” dynamic.
• Self-censorship: Encouraging the belief that avoiding “politics” may grant the “privilege” of visiting one’s homeland.
• Information warfare: Spreading the perception in Türkiye and internationally that “the situation has softened.”

As Turkish Airlines prepares to launch scheduled flights to Urumchi, observers say the move may further facilitate such organized visits and intensify debate within the Uyghur diaspora and among international human rights advocates.