Turkey condemns Quran-burning

Turkey condemns Quran-burning

Turkey condemns Quran-burning protests in Sweden, cancels ministers’ meeting

Turkey on Saturday canceled a planned visit by Sweden’s defense minister in response to anti-Turkish protests that increased tension between the two countries as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join NATO.
A far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Quran, Islam’s holy book. A separate pro-Kurdish demonstration was held later Saturday in the Swedish capital.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the scheduled January 27 visit by his Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson no longer held “any importance or point,” because Sweden continued to allow “disgusting” demonstrations against Turkey.
A protestor prepares to jump on a banner with the image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration organised by The Kurdish Democratic Society Center in Sweden.
A protestor prepares to jump on a banner with the image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration organised by The Kurdish Democratic Society Center in Sweden. (AP)
Jonson tweeted that he had met Akar on Friday in Ramstein, Germany, where they “agreed to postpone” the meeting in Ankara.
“Relations with Turkey are very important for Sweden and we look forward to continuing the dialogue on common security and defense issues at a later date,” he wrote.
The bid by historically nonaligned Sweden and Finland to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been held up by Ankara, which has accused Sweden in particular of being soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that Turkey considers security threats.
The Swedish government’s efforts to improve relations with Turkey have been complicated by demonstrations by pro-Kurdish activists, which have infuriated Turkey’s government. On Saturday, anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan added to the tensions by staging a Quran-burning protest outside the Turkish Embassy.
Police cordon off the area outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday Jan. 21, 2023. Sweden is bracing for demonstrations that could complicate its efforts to persuade Turkey to approve its NATO accession. A far-right activist from Denmark has received permission from police to stage a protest on Saturday outside the Turkish Embassy, where he intends to burn the Quran, Islams holy book. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)
Police cordon off the area outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. (AP)
Surrounded by police, Paludan carried out his protest while making disparaging remarks about immigrants and Islam. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful counterdemonstration.
In a separate protest later Saturday, a few hundred pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO activists marched through downtown Stockholm. Demonstrators waved flags of various Kurdish groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union and the United States, but its symbols aren’t banned in Sweden.
The protesters also held up flags with the face of imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and walked over a photo of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Swedish officials have stressed that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Swedish Constitution and gives people extensive rights to express their views publicly, though incitement to violence or hate speech isn’t allowed. Demonstrators must apply to police for a permit for a public gathering. Police can deny such permits only on exceptional grounds, such as risks to public safety.
Turkish officials condemned the Quran-burning protest and Swedish authorities for allowing it.
People take part in a demonstration against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden's NATO bid arranged by The Kurdish Democratic Society Center in Sweden, in Stockholm, Saturday, Jan. 21. 2023. Sign reads in Swedish "No to NATO". Turkey has blocked Sweden and Finlands bids to join NATO, which needs approval by all member states, saying Sweden in particular needs to crack down on Kurdish and other groups that Ankara considers as terrorists. (Christine Olsson/TT via AP)
A sign reads in Swedish “No to NATO”. Turkey has blocked Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO, which needs approval by all member states, saying Sweden in particular needs to crack down on Kurdish and other groups that Ankara considers as terrorists. (Christine Olsson/TT via AP) (AP)
“Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’ is completely unacceptable. This is an outright hate crime,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s spokesman, called it a hateful crime against humanity, while Erdogan’s nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, said parliament wouldn’t ratify Sweden’s NATO membership “under these conditions.”
A small group gathered outside the Swedish Embassy in Ankara to protest the Quran-burning, holding a banner with a Quranic verse on nonbelievers. A protest was also scheduled to take place in Istanbul on Saturday evening.
Earlier in January, an effigy of Erdogan was hung from a lamppost during a protest by Kurds. Turkey denounced a decision by a Swedish prosecutor not to investigate and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the protest an act of “sabotage” against Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
Turkey summoned the Swedish ambassador earlier this week and canceled a visit by the speaker of the Swedish parliament in reaction to the incident.
All NATO members need to ratify in their parliaments the accession requests by Sweden and Finland, which were made after Russia’s war on Ukraine prompted the Nordic countries to drop their longstanding policies of military nonalignment.
While Turkey says it has no objection to NATO’s growth, it won’t ratify the bids until its demands, which include extraditions of alleged terror suspects, are met.

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