Turkey and China’s bilateral relationship, since World War II, has gone through a roller-coaster ride. It is unusual to see short bursts of bonhomie followed by acrimony, with such frequency in their relations. To illustrate, Turkey sent a brigade of troops to fight in the Korean War alongside the US forces in 1950, out of which nearly 70% were killed in action. Yet, within a short span of a decade and a half, Turkey, a crucial NATO and Western Bloc member and China were looking to establish formal diplomatic and economic relations. Initially, these efforts were aimed to hedge their policies and extract leverage from the Western Bloc. However, the bilateral relationship subsequently gained momentum of its own, owing to China’s large economy and Turkey’s crucial geostrategic location. Nonetheless, the acrimonious aspect never vanished. The Turkey–China relationship constantly suffers from their fundamental contradiction emanating from the Uyghur situation in Xinjiang.