Flags have special meaning in every country, but the sensitivity to flags is so extreme in Turkey that a person accused of insulting the Turkish flag could face death. Although Turkish protesters frequently burn flags of countries whose actions they do not approve of, when it comes to their own flag, the taboo is insurmountable.

Turkey’s not-so-distant-past is laden with the tragedies of people accused of having insulted the flag. One of the first that comes to mind occurred in Cyprus in 1996, when Solomos Solomou, while participating in a funeral procession, began climbing a pole in the buffer zone to lower the Turkish flag. The five bullets that hit him killed him. Were it not for similar incidents in Turkey, Solomos' death might have been attributed to traditional animosity between Turkey and Greece, but such was not the case.

Also in 1996, in Ankara, a masked group of people lowered the Turkish flag during a congress of the Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP). Three people were shot and killed when they returned to their homes in Maras after the congress. Nationwide flag-related protests followed.

Thus, it seems, any provocation using the Turkish flag can have negative consequences, as happened June 8, when a demonstrator climbed the flagpole of the Diyarbakir Second Air Force Command and removed the Turkish flag. The entire country is now obsessed with the episode. Demonstrations are being held, political parties are issuing statement after statement and tension continues to mount. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the military of passivity and has ordered a full investigation.