Turkish bread, flags hot items in Aceh

Turkish bread, flags hot items in Aceh

Chris Brummitt, Associated Press/Banda Aceh

Turkish bakers making fresh bread for residents of Indonesia's
tsunami-ravaged Aceh province are finding their loaves aren't the
only hot item in town.

Anything emblazoned with the Turkish flag -- a white crescent
and star on a red background -- is in high demand, too. The
reason: it's a near look-alike of the banned symbol of the
region's separatist rebels.

"Everyone here knows this is Aceh's flag," said one resident
pointing to the Turkish flag on his hat, as he waited for bread
outside the store in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

"We can wear this safely and the police can do nothing," said
the man, who refused to give his name for fear of reprisal.

For nearly three decades, the Free Aceh Movement rebels have
been fighting to win government concessions for a referendum on
self-determination for Aceh. They have rejected Jakarta's offer
of "special autonomy," a form of self-government.

Since fighting broke out between the two sides' forces in
1976, tens of thousands of people have died - at least 15,000 in
the last decade alone.

Following the devastating Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami,
government and rebel negotiators have restarted stalled peace
talks that were broken off two years ago by the military. The two
sides are due to meet again later this month in Finland's
capital, Helsinki.

Gauging support for the rebellion in Aceh is tricky.
Years of a brutal police and military crackdown against the
separatists -- and their sympathizers -- has left many people in
Aceh weary of the violence and wary of openly siding with the
rebels.

But the Turkish flag's sudden popularity in Aceh suggests that
many of the 4.1 million residents of this province, on the
northern tip of Sumatra island, still harbor a strong allegiance
to the rebels.

Two black stripes with a white border running along the top
and bottom of the rebel flag mark the only difference with
Turkey's banner. But possessing a rebel flag can mean a treason
charge and a long prison sentence. So far, government armed
forces have done nothing to try to discourage the craze for
Turkish paraphernalia.

Turkish delegation head Ismail Hakki Turunc is aware of the
reaction to his country's flag but prefers to talk about his
crew's relief work.

"Before this we didn't know anything about GAM," said Turunc,
referring to the rebels by their Indonesian acronym.

He said the Turkish and rebel flags shouldn't be lumped
together in the same way the Turkish flag shouldn't be compared
to the British soccer club Manchester United's.

"The flag is also red, but that doesn't mean we have anything
to do with Manchester United," he said.

The Turkish bakers are part of a delegation of more than two
dozen volunteers, most of them Istanbul city workers. Six bakers
and their three Indonesian trainees put in 17-hour days baking as
many as 10,000 loaves in an oven imported from Turkey.

They have hung huge Turkish flags along the row of shops where
their relief operations are based, and have won quick friends
among many residents.

Freshly baked bread is something of an exotic food item in
Indonesia, where rice and noodles are staples. The bakers add
sugar to the bread to make them more palatable to Acehnese.

"This is rare up here. We are so isolated," said Ibrahim Ali,
clutching two loaves to take home to his family. "I want to come
again tomorrow."

Every day, about 200 Acehnese, many of them women and
children, queue an hour before the bread is ready to be
distributed at 5 p.m. The leftovers that aren't passed out are
taken to scores of makeshift refugee camps that dot the city.

"As long as the people here eat it, it makes me feel good,"
said Kamil Kolabas, who is the deputy manager of a state-owned
bakery in Istanbul. "We are giving them a new culture -- bread
culture."

Outside the shop, some residents are hunting for flags, not
bread.

Several men outside the bakery approached a reporter and asked
for clothing with the Turkish flag, perhaps mistaking him for
Turkish worker.

One boy smiled and pointed at the flag flying above the shop.
"GAM! GAM!" he said.

GetAP 1.00 -- FEB 9, 2005 12:21:30