Management of Ethnic Minorities in China and Türkiye: A Comparative Study of Uyghur and Kurdish Issues Since 1991

In this paper, we undertake a comparative case study of state policies toward ethnic minorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of Türkiye, focusing on China’s Uyghur population and Türkiye’s Kurdish population since 1991. We analyze the evolution of each country’s minority-management strategies, the effects on minority communities, and the interplay of international factors, especially China’s influence on Türkiye. We employ a constructivist view of point to examine how nationalism and identity shape policy, and note the securitization of ethnic dissent by both states. Our findings show that both China and Turkey pursued assimilationist, security-oriented strategies: China’s “Strike Hard” counterterrorism campaigns and mass re-education of Uyghurs mirror Turkey’s militarized response to Kurdish political demands. However, their external influences diverge; Türkiye’s shift toward China in the 2010s led Ankara to less support for Uyghur activism, illustrating Beijing’s leverage. We also find that in both cases, human rights concerns and diaspora activism persist. Overall, the paper advances understanding of how the spread of authoritarian norms shapes ethnic policies, indicating that China’s influence goes beyond economics to affect the political and ideological dimensions of its Middle Eastern partners.