Protests in Stockholm, including Quran-burning, draw strong condemnation from Turkey

STOCKHOLM, Jan 22 — Protests in Stockholm yesterday against Turkey and Sweden’s bid to join Nato, including the burning of a copy of the Quran, sharply heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when the Nordic country needs Ankara’s backing to gain entry to the military alliance.

A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden’s bid to join Nato. A group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had police permits.“Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed,” Billstrom said on Twitter.

Several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait denounced the Quran-burning. “Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We will continue our opposition to the Swedish Nato application,” Thomas Pettersson, spokesperson for Alliance Against Nato and one of organisers of the demonstration, told Reuters.In Istanbul, people in a group of around 200 protesters set fire to a Swedish flag in front of the Swedish consulate in response to the burning of the Quran.Earlier yesterday, Turkey said that due to lack of measures to restrict protests, it had cancelled a planned visit to Ankara by the Swedish defence minister.

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