Gul completes China visit

On the last stop of his China visit, President Abdullah Gul yesterday visited Urumchi, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, an area heavily populated by ethnic Turkic Muslim Uighurs. Addressing a gathering in Xinjiang University, Gul said the Uighurs act as a bridge of friendship between China and Turkey. "This role will help raise our relations to much higher levels," he added. Stating that Turks had also lived in the region 1,500 years ago, Gul added, "Afterwards, we moved towards the West, but our friendship and good relations have been going on since then." The university awarded Gul the title of honorary professor. Gul returned to Turkey yesterday after completing talks in China.