China has hit back at claims by Turkey that a Uighur poet and musician has died while imprisoned in Xinjiang, where Beijing’s hardline policies towards the Muslim minority group have prompted an international outcry.

On Saturday, Turkey’s foreign ministry said it had learned Abdurehim Heyit died while serving an eight-year prison sentence. In a rare rebuke of China, the ministry said Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs was a “great embarrassment for humanity”.

The Uighurs are a Turkic Muslim group in China’s far north-western region of Xinjiang, where a counter-terrorism campaign has led to as many as 1 million minority Muslims being detained in a network of internment camps. Turkey, one of the few Muslim-majority countries to criticise China, has for years welcomed Uighur refugees.

On Sunday, the state-owned China Radio International’s Turkish edition released a video of Heyit, dated 10 February, while the Chinese embassy in Turkey said Ankara had “seriously violated the facts”. The following day, the foreign ministry said Turkey’s statement was an “absurd lie”.

China's treatment of Uighurs is 'embarrassment for humanity', says Turkey Read more

In the 25-second video, a pale-faced Heyit, sitting in front of a grey wall, said he is being investigated for “allegedly violating national laws”. “I’m now in good health and have never been abused,” he said, according to the subtitled video.

The video is Heyit’s first public appearance in almost two years. The musician, known throughout the Turkic-language world for his poetry and performances of traditional Uighur music, is believed to have been arrested in April 2017, according to former colleagues. Heyit’s son was reportedly able to visit him, but friends said they have not heard from him since he was detained.

The video is also a rare rebuttal from China. It is uncommon for Beijing to respond directly to specific cases of individuals believed to be detained in Xinjiang.

Elise Anderson, a PhD candidate at Indiana University focusing on Uighur music, wrote on Twitter: “This situation doesn’t undermine efforts so much as it shows that outcry can force China to respond.

“We should see it as remarkable that they have circulated this video when … they have been deafeningly silent about the whereabouts of so many of the disappeared.”

China's Muslim detention camps Read more

In a country where televised forced confessions are not uncommon, the video raises more questions than it answers. Heyit’s statement that he is under investigation contradicts other reports that he has been sentenced to prison. It also indicates Heyit has been detained for more than a year without being formally charged.

Speaking on Monday, Hua Chunying, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said Heyit was under investigation for endangering state security.

He was one of the first of a string of Uighur musicians and cultural figures to have been detained in Xinjiang. The folk singer, while employed by a government entertainment troupe, was known for veering into politics with songs such as Stubborn Guest, a thinly veiled reference to Chinese control of Xinjiang.

In another song called Query of the Conscience, he sings: “When my conscience asks what I live for, I will answer: for my people, my homeland.”