What is the political agenda behind the “family visit delegation” that went from Turkey to Ürümqi?

by Alp

January 5, 2026

Today, January 5, major Chinese media outlets such as “China News Network,” “Sohu Network,” and others published reports about a “Xinjiang migrant family visit delegation” consisting of 42 people who arrived in Ürümqi from Turkey.

The reports particularly emphasized the tears of people reuniting with their families after many years of separation, praises for Ürümqi’s “even more modernized” new appearance, and the delicious local foods. At first glance, these reunions that appear as humane embraces and these praises that seem like longing for the missed homeland—if analyzed in depth—reveal that they are, in fact, a systematic “soft power” operation designed by China to restore its own political image.

The Unconcealable “Long Period of Separation”

When this carefully organized “Xinjiang migrant family visit delegation” arrived at Tianshan International Airport in Ürümqi, among those who came out to welcome them under government organization was Rashida Rahman, who told a Chinese reporter: “My son works in Istanbul, Turkey, and because his work was busy, he couldn’t return for many years…” As everyone knows, starting in 2017, Chinese authorities designated 26 countries, including Turkey, as “countries linked to terrorism,” and sent Uyghurs who had visited and returned from these countries to camps. In the seven or eight years since then, the vast majority of Uyghurs abroad could not return to their homeland, nor even communicate with their parents there. Yet in Rashida Khanim’s words, this kind of oppression is described as “long-term busyness at work.” The fact that the Chinese government is making such a big fuss about this “family visit” indirectly proves this point from the opposite side.

Political Task: The Plan of the “United Front”

It is possible to see from the organizing bodies of this visit alone that it is not an ordinary trip or personal family visit. This activity, arranged under the direct supervision of China’s Consulate General in Istanbul and the Autonomous Region Party Committee’s United Front Work Department, is entirely backed by a political task. The “United Front” is a special organ of the Chinese Communist Party responsible for controlling, dividing, and making overseas diaspora serve national interests.

Simplifying Identity: Imprisonment Masked Through Food and Buildings

The words of Irfan Erkin, who went to Ürümqi with the “delegation” and was specifically mentioned in the report—about “missing kebabs and polo”—are a typical example of China’s tactic to reduce the Uyghur issue to “food and drink and festival culture.” At a time when human rights violations in the Uyghur region, restrictions on religious beliefs, and pressure on national identity are on the international agenda, attempting to explain the issue only through “food” and “modern buildings” is nothing more than veiling the fundamental tragedy.

Indirect Admission of the Communication Blockade

The words of delegation member Aygülsüm Abduqadir: “Talking with relatives on the phone still doesn’t compare to face-to-face embracing”—is an admission of how severe the communication blockade against Uyghurs actually is. The fact that families can only see their loved ones through government-organized “delegations” shows that China is using the feeling of “kinship” as a kind of political reward or punishment tool.

Impact on the Diaspora: Collision of Fear and Hope

China’s action targets a series of dangerous psychological effects among Uyghurs in the diaspora:

• Internal division: Creating suspicion and friction between “those who can go” and “those who cannot,” thereby fostering a sense of good Uyghur-bad Uyghur in the diaspora.
• Self-censorship: Coming to the understanding that those who do not engage in “politics” or stay close to the government can obtain the “privilege” of seeing their homeland.
• Information warfare: Spreading the false perception in Turkey and the international community that “the situation has softened.”

Conclusion

The joy that Rashida Rahman felt when reuniting with her son is a mother’s genuine emotion, but China’s filming and broadcasting of this to the world has a fake and political purpose. These visits do not indicate that the oppression in the region has ended; rather, they show that China has entered a new stage in 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 any fear, and on their own.

This article was originally published in Uyghur Post and has been translated from Uyghur into English and republished by Uyghur Times.