Xinjiang and Turkey are the Turkic-speaking, Islamic-civilizational pivots between their respective worlds and an older, deeper East. Both sit on top of the historic Silk Road; both are home to mosques, bazaars, and a cuisine of lamb, naan, dumplings, and tea. Both have a complicated, century-long relationship between their secular nation-state framework and their religious population. Both run along an east-west desert axis that forces all civilization to bunch along oases.新疆与土耳其，是各自世界与更老更深的「东方」之间的突厥语、伊斯兰文明枢纽。两地都坐落在历史上的丝绸之路之上；两地都密布清真寺、巴扎与一套羊肉—馕—饺子—茶的饮食。两地都在「世俗民族国家框架」与「宗教人口」之间，存在长达百年的复杂关系。两地都沿一条东西向的沙漠轴线展开，迫使所有文明聚集在绿洲一带。

• ◆

  Turkic-language family origin.突厥语族同源。

• ◆

  Sunni Muslim majority population.以逊尼派穆斯林为主体人口。

• ◆

  An east-west desert / steppe corridor with oasis cities.东西向沙漠／草原走廊，沿线为绿洲城市。

• ◆

  Crossroads between Sinic / European world and the deeper Islamic world.处于「华夏／欧洲世界」与更深之伊斯兰世界之间的十字路口。

• ◇

  Turkey is a sovereign nation of 85m; Xinjiang is a Chinese region of 25m.土耳其为 8500 万人主权国；新疆为 2500 万人的中国行政区。

• ◇

  Turkey's Bosphorus; Xinjiang's continental landlock.土耳其守博斯普鲁斯；新疆是大陆深锁。

1. Silk Road age丝路时代
   CN

   Han–Tang — protectorates over oasis kingdoms.汉至唐——对绿洲诸国的都护府。

   EU

   Anatolian Seljuk + Byzantine borderlands.安纳托利亚塞尔柱与拜占庭之间的边疆。

2. Islamic consolidation伊斯兰巩固
   CN

   Karakhanid + Chagatai khanates.喀喇汗、察合台汗国。

   EU

   1453 — Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.1453——奥斯曼克君士坦丁堡。

3. Modern era近代
   CN

   1949 — incorporated into PRC; ongoing development push.1949——并入中华人民共和国；持续开发推进。

   EU

   1923 — Republic of Turkey founded.1923——土耳其共和国建立。

Both regions sit on enormous logistics value, both are politically delicate, both serve as the eastern hinge between civilizations.两地都坐拥巨大的物流价值；两地政治都微妙；两地都是文明之间的东向枢纽。

• Empires of the Silk Road
  Christopher Beckwith · 2009
• Turkey: A Modern History
  Erik J. Zürcher · 2017