Sweden’s bid to join NATO in jeopardy after anti-Turkey protests in Stockholm

Europe, Middle East, News January 23, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkey has expressed outrage over Sweden’s far-right government and politicians who carried out anti-Turkey and Islamophobic protests and burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21, 2023.

The Islamophobic protests in Stockholm have sharply heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when the Nordic country needs Ankara’s backing to gain entry to the military alliance. Ankara said it was canceling a visit by Sweden’s defense minister aimed at overcoming Turkey’s objections to its NATO membership.

“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,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry Mevlut Cavuosoglu said in a statement.

The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia.

Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billstrom, however, sided with the far-right anti-Islamic extremist Rasmus Paludan. Sweden’s foreign minister said that it would be “extremely improper” for him to call for the Danish extremist not to be allowed to burn the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

Paludan is a law graduate who leads the extremist Hard Line party in Denmark and Sweden. Paludan called for Islamophobic protests in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 22. He had announced burning copies of the Quran in front of the embassy to “take a small stand for freedom of expression against Turkey”.

Despite having prior knowledge about his Islamophobic intentions, Stockholm’s administration did not interfere to stop Paludan. “Sweden’s constitutional laws give strong protection and you need to judge that the value of being able to demonstrate and freedom of expression is extremely important,” Stockholm police spokesperson Ola Osterling said.

^{Leader of the far-right Danish political party Stram Kurs, Rasmus Paludan, stands outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on January 21, 2023. The far-right activist received permission from the police to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy, where he burned the Islamic Holy book Quran. (Image Credit: Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/via AP)}

Several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Kuwait, also denounced the Quran burning. “Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also tweeted that “No words are enough to adequately condemn the horrible act of desecration of the Holy Quran by a right-wing extremist in Sweden. The garb of freedom of expression cannot be used to hurt the religious emotions of 1.5 billion Muslims across the world. This is unacceptable.”

A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden’s bid to join NATO while a group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy at the same time. All three events had police permits.

Demonstrators waved flags of various Kurdish groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union, and the United States, however, Sweden does not consider it a terrorist organization.

*^{People set on fire a Sweden flag during a small protest outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on January 21, 2023. (Image Credit: AP/Emrah Gurel)}*

Separately in Istanbul, a group of Turkish protesters set fire to a Swedish flag in front of the Swedish consulate in response to the burning of the Holy book of Islam.

Turkish Defence Ministry statement also announced that Turkey has canceled the Swedish defense minister’s planned visit to Ankara “due to lack of measures to restrict protests”. Defense Minister Akar said, “It is unacceptable not to make a move or react to these (protests). The necessary things needed to be done, measures should have been taken.”