Interview: Xinjiang's development testifies to China's success story, says veteran Turkish journalist

Tourists visit the Qicai river resort in Burqin County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

"Development is seen as the solution to ethnic issues" by China in Xinjiang, and the Uygur people of Xinjiang are enjoying their lives freely while preserving their own unique culture, said Hasan Bogun, a veteran Turkish journalist.

ANKARA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has witnessed "impressive" development with the eradication of poverty for all of its inhabitants, a veteran Turkish journalist has said.

"Xinjiang is a success story of Chinese socialism. Poverty there has been eradicated," Hasan Bogun, who visited the region in 2023, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"It was once one of the poorest regions of China maybe a couple of decades before, but now there is no poverty anymore, it does not exist anymore," said Bogun, who has been working as a journalist since 1983.

As a member of a journalist delegation, Bogun visited several cities in Xinjiang, including Urumqi, Turpan and Kashgar.

He said the media delegation visited various facilities in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, a very modern and developed city.

"The infrastructure is very developed, the health system is also very developed and reaches all villages," Bogun said.

"This is not as it is presented by some Western media outlets, with people allegedly being oppressed there. There are no tensions in Xinjiang. I was expecting a more remote and underdeveloped region, it is certainly not like that," Bogun added.

Children dance by the melody of accordions at a square in Tacheng City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Lin Liping)

When noting that the Chinese government pays great attention to delivering the benefits of development to the local residents, Bogun said that all-inclusive projects in health, social security and infrastructure have transformed Xinjiang into a modern, bustling region.

In multi-ethnic communities around the world, ethnic issues have often arisen, and this is also true in some Western countries, the journalist observed.

"Development is seen as the solution to ethnic issues" by China in Xinjiang, and the Uygur people of Xinjiang are enjoying their lives freely while preserving their own unique culture, Bogun said.

There are many different ethnic groups in Xinjiang and "cultural differences are a good thing," he said, adding that "China is promoting these differences and does not try to eradicate them."