Religious book burning spree in Sweden: New provocations are at hand
Although the reactions to the provocations to burn the Qur’an continued in Sweden, the requests made to the police to burn the Bible and the Torah in addition to the Qur’an created controversy.
Salwan Momika, an Iraqi living in Sweden, burned the Holy Quran in front of a mosque with the permission of the court last week. Despite international reactions, Momika announced that he would once again organize Quran burnings in the coming days.
In January, the far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
Rasmus Paludan’s action also caused a huge reaction.
The successive provocations ahead of the NATO summit to be held next month caused great reactions in Turkey, which did not approve of Sweden’s entry into NATO.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: “If setting fire to a church, synagogue or temple of another faith is not freedom, there can be no freedom to burn the Quran.”
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also addressed Sweden, which needs Turkey’s approval to join NATO, saying: “We strongly condemn the vile attack and the approval of this attack despite our warnings. In terms of strategic and security assessment, the question of whether Sweden’s NATO membership will be a burden or a benefit is now open to further debate.
THEY WANT TO BURN THE KORAN, THE BIBLE AND THE TOWAT
According to the Swedish press, at least 3 permits were requested from the Swedish Police to burn religious books in the country. It was said that these people wanted to organize a protest by burning the Koran, the Bible and the Torah.
The press reported that one person wanted to burn the Bible and Torah in front of the Israeli Embassy in response to last week’s action, and a woman in her 50s requested to organize a Quran burning action in front of the mosque.
The events in Sweden, which some people describe as “free speech”, have recently been “Would writing religious books be included in free speech?” creates controversy. The country’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the latest provocation.
After the burning of the Koran, to which Muslim-majority countries reacted strongly, the UN warned that the events could lead to religious conflicts and diplomatic crises in Sweden.