Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on bilateral ties and riots in Urumqi, capital of China's northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

During their talks on Sunday, both sides highlighted the importance of the China-Turkey relationship.

It takes joint efforts from both sides to maintain the friendly cooperative ties, which serves the interests of both nations and their peoples, they said.

On the recent riots in Urumqi, Yang said the incident is a grave crime well-orchestrated by the "three evil forces," namely terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The July 5 incident, which has left at least 184 dead and caused huge property damage to the people of various ethnic groups, has seriously undermined social order and stability, Yang said.

China will deal with the incident according to law in a bid to safeguard the security of the people's lives and property, he said.

Davutoglu said Turkey respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and will not interfere in China's internal affairs.

Turkey will not allow anyone to carry out activities sabotaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Turkish soil, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2009)