Olympic Torch Turned Turkish in Turkey -- Anti-China protest targets
Olympic torch ceremony/AP

Anti-China protest targets Olympic torch ceremony

http://img.iht.com/images/2008/04/03/03china-torch550.jpg
Turkish police officers, right, detained an unidentified man Thursday as
he tried to approach the bearer of the Olympic torch in Istanbul, while
a Chinese security force, in blue, secured the flame bearer. The motive
of the attack was not immediately known. (Fatih Saribas/Reuters )

International Herald Tribune

Anti-China protest targets Olympic torch ceremony

The Associated Press
Thursday, April 3, 2008

ISTANBUL: The police detained at least six Uighur Muslims on Thursday at
an anti-China protest during the Olympic torch ceremony near one of
Turkey's most famous tourist destinations.

The demonstrators were detained after they broke away from a larger
group of protesters and shouted slogans just feet away from Tugba
Karademir, a Turkish figure skater and Olympic athlete who had just
started to run with the torch through the city.

About 200 Uighur Muslims had converged ahead of the ceremony near
Istanbul's Blue Mosque and the domed Haghia Sofia church.

The Olympic flame is on a global tour before the summer games in
Beijing. Activists have called for protests following unrest in Tibet.
There also have been reports of unrest by the Uighur minority in China's
Xinjiang region. Uighurs are related to Turks, and Turkey is home to an
Uighur community.

"Turkey, stand by your brothers," read a banner at the protest in Istanbul.

"We don't want a country like China, with a bad human rights record, to
hold the Olympics, which symbolize humanity, peace and brotherhood,"
protester Hayrullah Efendigil said.

Police outnumbered the protesters and hemmed them in, making it
difficult for them to move around freely. Some tourists photographed the
group.

Some members of the Uighur expatriate community in Turkey have been
militant in calling for independence for Xinjiang, or what they refer to
as East Turkestan. In the late 1990s, the Chinese leadership exerted
strong pressure on Turkey to silence and withdraw any government support
for these advocates in an effort that was said to be largely successful.

International Herald Tribune Copyright

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