Athlete hailed by Uyghur advocates for 'East Turkestan' flag

BEIJING, Feb 6 - 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. His native Turkish flag is almost identical, but features a red background. "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. The display of any political symbol or unofficial flag is strictly forbidden at the Olympics, and the Turkish team later denied any deliberate flouting of the rules. As you may know, the official Turkish flag includes a white crescent and a star on it," Turkey's Olympic Committee told Reuters. "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. Another, Mustafa Karadeniz, said "Fatih Arda Ipcioglu participated in the competitions with the flag of East Turkestan in the heart of China.