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ANKARA, March 24 (AFP) - 13h52 - A botched bid
Sunday by a few teenagers to burn a Turkish flag
during a Kurdish celebration has led to a patriotic
backlash with unprecedented public displays of the
national symbol.
"We will not tolerate any insult against our flag,"
an angry shopkeeper in the residential Cankaya
district here said Thursday. "Trying to burn it is
out of the question -- everyone should know this."
A huge Turkish flag -- a white star and crescent on
a red background -- was taped to the window of his
grocery store.
"This is unheard of: Turks trying to burn their own
flag," said an incredulous Abdulkadir Delibas, 25.
Turks take great pride in their national emblem,
which for them is a symbol of the 1919-1922 war of
independence and its leader, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
the founder of the modern Turkish republic.
Private homes and businesses are often bedecked with
flags on national holidays, but the spontaneous
reaction to Sunday's incident has surpassed even the
most patriotic Independence Day displays.
Balconies, verandahs, windows, taxis, city buses,
banks and businesses here and in other major cities
-- even the vast, labyrinthine covered bazaar in
Istanbul -- are festooned with the star and crescent
emblem.
The incident that sparked it all occurred Sunday in
Mersin, a port city on the southern Turkish coast
that is home to large numbers of Kurdish refugees
from the southeast who fled the war there between
the army and the rebel separatist Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) between 1984 and 1999.
During celebrations in Mersin of Newroz, the
traditional Kurdish New Year, a group of teenagers
manhandled and tried to burn a Turkish flag in front
of TV news cameras.
Newroz, which marks the summer equinox and the
arrival of spring, is celebrated across Turkey and
particularly in the Kurdish-populated southeast, has
often provided an excuse for pro-PKK demonstrations.
This year too, tens of thousands of people
participated, many chanting slogans and
demonstrating in favor of the PKK and its leader,
Abdullah Ocalan, now serving a life term for
treason.
But contrary to previous practice -- reflecting the
kinder, gentler Turkey trying to break out of its
authoritarian cocoon as it aspires to join the
European Union -- police this year did not
intervene.
But by Thursday, they had arrested half a dozen
people in connection with the outrage, the youngest
aged only 12 and the others in their teens.
First to react to the TV footage that shocked the
nation was the powerful army, which waged a
15-year-war against the PKK that claimed 36,500
lives.
In a strongly worded statement, the general staff
described the event as an act of "treason" by
"so-called citizens."
The media and the entire political establishment --
including the pro-Kurdish DEHAP party -- denounced
the outrage as a surge of patriotism gripped the
country.
Thousands of flags were distributed freely and TV
channels placed the symbol on a corner of their
screens.
The flag is protected by a strict law that provides
fines and jail time for all offenders -- whoever
places it where it can be sat or trod upon, or
insults, burns, tears or throws it to the ground.
The fervor was such that newspapers began calling
for moderation, fearing incidents between Kurds and
Turks.
Analysts were afraid such demonstrations could harm
Turkey's EU bid, with accession talks due to begin
on October 3.
"There is a general feeling of 'enough is enough'
among the population that defines its national
identity as Turkish," commented a columnist for the
liberal daily Radikal.
The incident, she wrote, reflects mounting
anti-Kurdish "racism" in the country, which should
be openly discussed if a solution is to be found.
AFP
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