Türkiye Condemns Burning of Quran in Stockholm

The burning of the Quran in Stockholm shows the level of Islamophobia, racism and discrimination that currently exists in Europe, said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The Nordic News portal reported the day before that the leader of the Danish ultra-right Hard Course party, Rasmus Paludan, received a permit to burn a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

The burning of the book sacred to Muslims took place today at 16.00 (local time).

"We condemn in the strongest terms the abominable act perpetrated with our holy book, the holy Quran, committed today [Jan. 21] in Sweden, despite all the warnings from our country. We do not agree at all that this act of Islamophobic provocation against Muslims, which offends our sacred values, was allowed in the name of freedom of expression," the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry called this act a "hate crime" and "further proof of the alarming level of Islamophobia, racism and discrimination in Europe".

"We urge the Swedish authorities to take the necessary measures against those responsible for this hate crime, and call on all countries and international organizations to take concrete measures of solidarity against Islamophobia," the statement said.