China’s persecuted Uyghurs find acceptance in Turkey
|Istanbul (CNN)The call to prayer at Emine Inanc mosque brings together immigrants who have found sanctuary in Istanbul’s working-class Zeytinburnu neighborhood.
With no room inside the overcrowded mosque, dozens of worshippers spill onto the street. For some, like Ishqiyar Abudureyimu, praying openly would have been unimaginable just a few years ago when he was living in China.
The 27-year-old is among thousands of Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority from Xinjiang province in western China, who have sought refuge in Turkey after escaping Beijing’s brutal crackdown against the group.