Terrorists a common enemy whatever guise they wear

News that Turkey has arrested two Chinese nationals of Uygur origin in connection with a mass shooting in a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Eve underscores the necessity and urgency for Beijing and Ankara to work more closely together to combat cross-border terrorism.

Identified as members of an unspecified "terrorist organization", the two have been charged with "purchasing unlicensed firearms" and "being accomplices" to the murder of 39 people in the attack for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

It would be no surprise if the two Uygurs proved to have links with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The UN-listed terrorist group, dedicated to the separation of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region from China, has long been responsible for a series of deadly terrorist attacks in and outside China.