Istanbul: Sweden and Turkey are embroiled in a diplomatic dispute that has sparked a wave of rallies and demonstrations, raising tensions between the two countries. Following demonstrations in front of its embassy in Stockholm, which included the burning of Qurans by far-right sympathizers and a separate rally by Kurdish activists, Turkey reprimanded Sweden. Rasmus Paludan, head of the Danish far-right political group Hard Line, burned the Koran. Paludan’s announcement of a Quran-burning “tour” in April last year, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, sparked riots across Sweden.
Surrounded by police, Paludan denounced Islam and immigration in Sweden during an hour-long protest before setting the holy book on fire with a lighter. About 100 people gathered for a quiet protest. “If you don’t think there should be freedom of speech, you have to live somewhere else,” he said.
Now, around 250 people gathered outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul, where a photo of Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan was torched. Paludan burned Islam’s holy book outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on Saturday, with protests in Istanbul and Ankara that night. Participants in the rally on Sunday carried banners reading “We condemn Sweden’s state-supported Islamophobia,” as well as green flags bearing the Islamic declaration of faith. The Swedish consulate displayed a statement on a window that said, “We do not share the point of view of the idiot who burned that book.”
Earlier, Turkey canceled Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonsson’s visit to Ankara due to rising hostilities between the two countries as a result of the Quran burning incident. Turkey accused the Swedish government of allowing the rally in Stolholm.