Event in front of Turkish embassy will further inflame tensions between two countries.
Turkey comdems burning of Qu’ran during far-right protest in Stockholm on Saturday, further inflaming tensions between the two countries amid Stockholm’s Nato bid.
The Qu’ran burning was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. In April last year, Paludan’s announcement of a Qu’ran burning tour during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan sparked riots across Sweden.
With heavy Police protection, Paludan set fire to the holy book following a long abusive speech of almost an hour, in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful protest, Agence France-Presse reported.
Ankara said on Saturday it was cancelling a visit by Sweden’s defence minister, Pal Jonson, aimed to be a discussion about Turkey’s refusal to ratify Sweden’s Nato accession. Sweden needs Turkey’s backing to gain entry to military alliance as fears in Europe grows after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey’s defence minister, Hulusi Akar, said the meeting was cancelled because it “has lost it’s significance and meeting.”
Jonson, however, announced the meeting had been postponed after talks with Akar on Friday at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany.
“Our relations with turkiye are very important to Sweden, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue on common security and defence issues at a later date,” he tweeted on Saturday.
Chief adviser to Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, condemned the demonstration as a “clear crime of hatred and humanity.
“”Allowing this action despite all our warnings is encouraging hate crimes and Islamophobia,” he tweeted. “The attack on sacred values is not freedom but modern barbarism.”
Abdulazeez Abdulrasheed