The recent riot in Urumqi, capital of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was a "great turbulence" and greater casualties would have been caused if the Chinese government had not taken decisive measures, Syria's Mufti Ahmed Badr Al-Deen Hasson said Tuesday.

"Killing each other under the name of tribes is a horrible matter," Hasson said in an interview with Xinhua.

"We have to make the Chinese youth aware of the reality that you are one nation. China has achieved a great progress recently by respecting the religious beliefs," he said.

The Mufti recalled his visit to China last October.

"When I was visiting the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, I felt that Muslims are always happy and have no problems," Hasson said.

Hasson added that China respects Muslims, who he said should "make this country advance in the fields of agriculture and industry and not believe rumors coming from outside China."

Source:Xinhua