The Muslim holy book was burned near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. The reaction of Ankara officials
Turkish officials reacted yesterday harshly after the Koran was burned in proximity to the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm following demonstrations. Turkey's foreign minister called on Sweden to forbid the protest, which had announced the burning of the holy book. However, the demonstration went ahead, heightening tensions between the two countries at a time when Sweden needs Turkey's vote to join NATO, Digi24 reports.
"We condemn in the strongest terms the infamous attack against our holy book (...) Allowing this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression, is completely unacceptable," stated the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The author of the burning of the Koran was Rasmus Paludan, the leader of a far-right Danish party. Paludan, who also has Swedish citizenship, has held several demonstrations in the past and this is not the first time he has set fire to the Koran. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait, have denounced the burning of the Koran.
The Turkish ministry called on Sweden to take all necessary actions against the perpetrators and called on all states to take concrete measures against Islamophobia. Following the authorization of this demonstration by the Swedish authorities, the Turkish Minister of Defense canceled the visit of his Swedish counterpart to Ankara.
At the same time, as the demonstration against Turkey and at the same place, a separate protest in support of the Kurds and against Sweden's NATO candidacy took place, and a group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had authorization from the police. The head of Swedish diplomacy, Tobias Billstrom, condemned the protester's gesture of burning the Koran as "a terrible Islamophobic provocation" and emphasized that the authorization of the demonstration did not mean that it was supported by the executive.
