Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden that it should not expect Turkey’s support for its NATO membership after far-right protesters burned a Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm protest.
Erdogan’s statement comes days after a copy of the Quran was burned in a Stockholm protest.
Turkey condemned the burning of a copy of the Quran during a protest in Sweden, describing it as a “vile act” and said the Swedish government’s decision to allow the protest to go ahead was “completely unacceptable”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has categorically announced that Sweden should not expect Turkey to support its bid to join the 30-member military alliance NATO.
“Sweden should not expect support from us for NATO,” Erdogan said. “It is clear that those who allowed such vileness to take place in front of our embassy can no longer expect any charity from us regarding their NATO membership application”.
Sweden, along with Finland, applied for NATO membership after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. Both countries need approval from Turkey, already a NATO member, to join the intergovernmental military alliance.
The burning of the Quran has further heightened tensions between Turkey and Sweden, which have increased due to Turkey’s opposition to Sweden joining the NATO military alliance.
Incident
The Quran burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), with permission from the government outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on Saturday.
Surrounded by police, Paludan set fire to the holy book with a lighter following a long diatribe of almost an hour, in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful counter-demonstration.
“If you don’t think there should be freedom of expression, you have to live somewhere else,” he said.
The Turkish foreign ministry immediately responded, saying: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book… Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable.”
Erdogan condemns the protest
The protest, in which the protestors burnt the Quran, was staged after obtaining approval from Swedish authorities.
Erdogan denounced the Swedish government’s decision to allow the protest, calling it “completely unacceptable”, adding that blasphemy should not be defended by freedom of speech.
“No one has the right to humiliate the saints,” said Erdogan, adding, “When we say something, we say it honestly, and when someone dishonors us, we put them in their place.”
Sweden’s response
The Swedish government has also criticized the protest, the burning of the holy book incident in particular.
“Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish government, or myself, support the opinions expressed,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Saturday.
Responding to the Turkish President’s latest remarks, Billstrom said he wanted to understand precisely what Erdogan said before commenting. “Sweden will respect the agreement that exists between Sweden, Finland and Turkey regarding our Nato membership,” he added.
Worldwide condemnations
Arab and Islamic world highly condemned the burning of a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, by a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
Saudi Arabia condemned the Swedish authorities and affirmed “the kingdom’s firm position calling for the importance of spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance and coexistence, and rejecting hatred and extremism.”
Qatar also denounced in the strongest terms Sweden’s permission to burn the Quran. “This heinous incident is an act of incitement and a serious provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also condemned the incident and reiterated “its rejection of all practices aimed at destabilizing security and stability in contravention of human and moral values and principles.”
Pakistan termed the incident as a “senseless and provocative Islamophobic act that hurts the religious sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.”
Egypt’s Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, also decried the Quran burning as a “shameful act” and a violation of “all international laws and covenants that stipulate the necessity of respecting the sanctities of peoples, their beliefs and their religions.”
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned the provocative act that “targets Muslims, insults their sacred values, and serves as a further example of the alarming level reached by Islamophobia” and asked Sweden to punish those behind a “hate crime.”
Azerbaijan, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Iran, Jordan, Bangladesh also condemned the act.