[Curiosities] Turkiye Cancels Swedish Minister’s Visit After Islamophobic Protest in Stockholm

[BirSaNN]

Sweden gave permission to a right-wing protester to burn the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy.

Rabat - Turkiye has canceled a visit by Sweden’s defense minister Pal Jonson after a protest by a right-wing group in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar said the visit by Jonson was called off, adding that the talks had “lost all significance and meaning,” as Sweden failed to take action against the anti-Turkish protests.

The visit was geared towards addressing Turkish objections to Sweden joining NATO, but Stockholm’s allowance of anti-Turkish protests has not helped those talks.

Sweden’s government allowed Rasmus Paludan, a well-known Danish-Swedish right-wing extremist, to protest in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Paludan said that he intended to “burn the Quran” in front of the building.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Friday that Sweden “respects freedom of speech.”

“It is unacceptable to characterize this despicable racist act, which is a hate crime, as freedom of thought and expression,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

Echoing this sentiment,  the ministry itself condemned “the vile attack on our holy book” in an official statement.

“Permissing this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’ is completely unacceptable,” the press release said. “This is an outright hate crime.”

The ministry called on Swedish authorities to take measures against the protesters and invited countries to take “concrete steps” against Islamophobia.

Paludan, who is the leader of far-right Danish party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), has a long history of Islamophobic protests, having taken part in several events that included the burning of the Quran.

The perceptible row between Ankara and Stockholm comes in the wake of Sweden and Finland’s recent bids to join NATO, in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkiye has so far refused to approve the bids, demanding that Sweden extradite people it accuses of terrorism.

link: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353649/turkiye-cancels-swedish-ministers-visit-after-islamophobic-protest-in-stockholm