Athlete hailed by Uyghur advocates for 'East Turkestan' flag

BEIJING : A ski jumper at the Winter Olympics was hailed by advocates for Uyghurs on Sunday after displaying what they said was the flag of the independence movement of East Turkestan, a group Beijing says threatens the stability of its Xinjiang region.

Turkey's Fatih Arda Ipcioglu on Saturday competed in light blue-coloured skis with a white crescent and white star on them. His native Turkish flag is almost identical, but features a red background.

It was not clear whether or not the athlete had been making a political statement, or was an unwitting hero to some due to the colour of his skis.

On Sunday, Ipcioglu used plain blue skis without the flag, and would not discuss the issue when asked by Reuters. "I don’t want to answer those questions," he said.

"I changed my skis, these are my competition skis... I try my best and we will see. I showed my jump under the Turkish flag.

"I can just speak about the Turkish flag," he said, when asked if the skis on Saturday had featured the Turkish flag or an East Turkestan flag.

When asked if he had been making a political statement, the athlete said: "Like I said, I am a sportsman, I just do my job. The other things I don’t care about, it’s not my job. I don’t want to answer those questions."

Uyghur advocates and sympathisers on social media were quick to jump on the issue.

"The first Turk to qualify in ski jumping, Fatih Arda Ipcioglu competed with the East Turkestan flag on his helmet and skis, protesting the Chinese persecution in China," said Twitter user Bulent Aksoy. "Congratulations Fatih Arda."

Another, Mustafa Karadeniz, said "Fatih Arda Ipcioglu participated in the competitions with the flag of East Turkestan in the heart of China. Thank you my brave brother."

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