The Swedish government permitted a Quran-burning protest that took place in Sweden on Wednesday, a move that angered Turkey and made it less likely that Ankara will approve Stockholm’s NATO membership before the Vilnius summit in July.
Swedish police said the approval was done in accordance with the right of free speech. Only one man took part in the demonstration, burning a Quran near a mosque in Stockholm.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned the protest. “It is unacceptable to allow these anti-Islamic actions under the pretext of freedom of expression. To turn a blind eye to such heinous acts is to be complicit in them,” he said.
Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s director of communications, said that those “who seek to become our allies in NATO, cannot tolerate or enable destructive behaviors of Islamophobic and xenophobic terrorists.”
Earlier this year, Turkey postponed talks with Sweden over its NATO bid over a Quran-burning protest that was held in January.
US and NATO officials have said they expect Sweden will be granted membership by July 11, when the Vilnius summit will begin. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously said it won’t happen, and the Quran-burning protest gives Ankara more reason not to meet the deadline.
Turkey’s main gripe with Sweden is the country’s alleged support for the PKK, a Kurdish militant group Ankara considers a terrorist organization. In an effort to placate Turkey, Stockholm has passed a new anti-terror law and approved the extradition of a man who previously expressed support for the PKK.
Well, some (and slipping badly) freedom of expression is about all that we have left to identify what used to be Western Civilization.
The page burner isn’t from the West though, he’s an Iraqi. But Dave DeCamp didn’t think that was something the readers here should know.
How is that relevant? It was not done in Iraq for a reason. So the statement is still true that freedom of expression “is all we have left from what used to be western civilization”.
Dave DeCamp also didn’t explain to us the percent of trade between Sweden and other NATO countries, or Turkey’s current stance on the kurds.
Sometimes info is left out of articles, not because of some “grand scheme” to “suppress information”, but simply because it is not relevent to the point that is being made.
I seriously doubt Dave is “trying to hide” the ethnic background. He probably just thought, like the rest of us, that it was an irrelevant piece of information. The important thing is, Sweden allows people to burn the Quran. And turkey doesn’t like that.
Well, I guess Sweden is joining the collective psychosis in a big way. Bring in a lot of Muslims then burn their holy book, what could go wrong? I’m glad since Turkey may not vote for their NATO inclusion which will make a lot of Swedes very happy.
Dumb. IT’S AN IRAQI WHO BURNED THE PAGES. But of course you won’t read the actual story, not even the first paragraph on it, because clicking on the link provided is too much effort. Now keep mouthing off more about “Sweden” and “Swedes”.
well after all it was the Swedes who allowed a lot of muslims into Sweden and then allowed a guy to burn the muslim holy book.
Nobody cares that it was an Iraqi who burned the book. Turkey doesn’t even care about that. What turkey cares about is that Sweden allowed it.
Well, he was still in Sweden, and doesn’t that make him a Swede by nationality? And, he must have been an atheist or Christian, or just a nut.
I bet you’re against flag burning too.
I’m against all provocations that will cause violence. Burning flags and holy books does nothing but create further hate and eventually violence. As far as ethics go, the golden rule is all you need.
Freedom baby, is never having to say you’re sorry. Turkey forgets the secular Europe hates all religions, but especially Islam.
Another one who won’t click on the link. The guy who burned a few pages (not the whole book) is an Iraqi.
That makes absolutely no difference in the discussion at all.
Sweden… A country that has really contributed nothing to the world.. Idiots.
Says the guy from a country that has destroyed the West. “Idiots” LOL “contributed nothing” Um, Sweden has more inventions per citizen than any other country in the world. Just off the top of my head, Sweden invented dynamite, the cooling system for refrigerators and ball bearings for tyres. Maybe read a little before mouthing off with your hatred?
Also, it’s not a Swede who burned the pages, it’s an Iraqi, but I know you are too lazy to click on the link.
well i clicked on that link = an Iraqi guy fled to Sweden but it doesn’t say why he fled. maybe because his alleged hatred of Islam would get him killed in today’s Iraq which is full of mohammedans thanks to uncle sam’s elimination of Saddam? Iraqi guy could have just counted his blessings and lived in peace in his new country of Sweden but that wasn’t good enough for him, he just had to make a big scene with his idiotic protest. but i really don’t know because i live in Los Angeles where we can burn almost anything we want and nobody pays any attention.
If you have to give up your ability to use free speech to protest beliefs which you feel are fundamentally at odds with your own in order to join NATO… It’s kinda telling which side NATO is on.
America and it`s NATO LACKEYS have been CRUSADING across the Muslim world for the past 30 years , NATO soldiers should be wearing a white over dress with a large red cross on it , and they wonder why Muslims are targeting Western countries .