2023-07-01 14:59:33
“We will eventually teach the arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said in televised remarks, adding that he condemned the incident “in the strongest possible terms”.
“We will show our reaction in the strongest possible terms, until a determined victory against terrorist organisations and Islamophobia is achieved.”
Erdogan’s tough talk came one week before the top diplomats of Turkey and Sweden are due to meet in Brussels to discuss Stockholm’s Nato membership bid.
Turkey and fellow Nato member Hungary are holding up ratification of the application, which has been approved by all the other members of the US-led defence alliance.
Western officials had hoped to formally welcome Sweden into the bloc by the time a Nato summit is held in Lithuania on July 11th – July 12th.
Swedish police granted permission on Wednesday for a man to set fire to pages of the Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, drawing condemnation from many Muslims around the world.
Police had allowed the protest in line with free-speech protections, but also opened an investigation into the man, originally from Iraq, for “agitation against an ethnic group”.
In its written decision granting a permit for the protest, Stockholm police said the security risks associated with the burning “were not of a nature that
could justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request”.
Erdogan, who extended his two-decade rule until 2028 in a tough election last month, said Swedish officials bore full responsiblity for the incident.
“Those who commit this crime as well as those who allow it under the guise of freedom of opinion, those who tolerate this despicable act will not be able to achieve their ambitions,” he said.
Erdogan was joined in his condemnation by leaders from Iraq, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations, while the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan said the act showed “utter contempt towards this noble religion”.
Taliban authorities enforce a strict interpretation of the Quran and Islamic law, and blasphemous acts are punishable by death.
Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said it condemned the act “in the strongest terms”.
“Permission for such despicable acts in front of a mosque on one of the holiest days of Islam shows nothing more than the utter contempt towards this noble religion and its close to two billion adherents by the Swedish authorities,” it said in a statement.
“We call on all Muslim states and organisations… to take all appropriate measures in response to such odious acts across the world.”
Stockholm is a major aid contributor to Kabul through its Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, which has been present in the country for more than 40 years.
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