From Sweden to Denmark, Paludan Repeats Burning Holy Quran

By Staff, Agencies

The far-right anti Islam extremist, Rasmus Paludan, has blatantly burned copies of the Holy Quran near a Copenhagen mosque and outside the Turkish embassy in Denmark.

Paludan, who holds both Danish and Swedish citizenship, had already infuriated the Turkish government by staging a Quran-burning protest in Sweden on January 21.

On Friday, he replicated the stunt in front of a mosque, as well as the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen, and promised to continue every Friday until Sweden is admitted into NATO.

Sweden and neighboring Finland are seeking to join the military alliance amid the war in Ukraine, in a historic departure from their non-aligned policies.

However, their accession would require approval from all NATO members, and Turkey has indicated it will block Sweden’s bid – in part due to Paludan’s initial stunt.

In response, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said the Danish ambassador was summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry where Turkish officials “strongly condemned the permission given for this provocative act which clearly constitutes a hate crime”.

The ambassador was told that “Denmark’s attitude is unacceptable” and that Turkey expected permission be revoked.

Turkey’s foreign ministry later issued a statement calling Paludan an “Islam-hating charlatan” and deploring the fact that he was allowed to stage the demonstration.

“Showing tolerance towards such heinous acts that offend the sensitivities of millions of people living in Europe threatens the practice of peaceful coexistence and provokes racist, xenophobic and anti-Muslim attacks,” the ministry said.

On Friday, protests were held in several predominantly Muslim countries to denounce Paludan’s protest in Sweden and a similar incident in the Netherlands.