Turkey cancels visit of Swedish Defense Minister after Koran burning in Stockholm

21 Jan. () –

The Turkish government has canceled the upcoming visit of the Turkish Defense Minister, Pal Jonson, to Turkey in protest at the burning this Saturday of a copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book, the Koran, in Sweden today, January 21, despite repeated warnings,” the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a statement collected by the newspaper ‘Daily Sabah’.

This act is “a blatant hate crime.” “Allowing this anti-Islamic act against Muslims is an insult to our most sacred values ​​disguised as freedom of expression and is absolutely unacceptable,” Ankara added.

For this reason, Turkey calls on the Swedish authorities to take the necessary measures against those “responsible for this hate crime.” “This despicable act is yet another example of the alarming level of Islamophobia, racism and discrimination that has reached Europe.”

Ankara thus calls on all countries and international organizations to respond to this act “in solidarity against Islamophobia”.

Jonson was scheduled to travel to Turkey next week, an essential trip to end the diplomatic crisis caused by the hanging of a wimp for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in front of Stockholm City Hall.

This Saturday the leader of the far-right Danish party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), Rasmus Paludan, burned a Koran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

On Friday and in anticipation of this widely announced act, Turkey summoned the Turkish ambassador in Ankara, Staffan Herrstrom, to urge the Swedish authorities to prevent it. He also warned that the acts of Kurdish groups called for this Saturday in Stockholm represent a “clear violation” of the June tripartite agreement by which Finland and Sweden agreed with Turkey to join NATO.