A convicted far-right leader in Sweden has been allowed to burn a copy of the Koran outside Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm – as the country struggles to persuade President Erdogan to join NATO.
Rasmus Paludan, 41, has permission to burn the book outside the building on Saturday 21 January to coincide with two related demonstrations planned in protest against Turkey.
Danish-Swedish Paludan said he wanted to “mark a certain freedom of expression” after the hanging of an effigy of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan near Stockholm City Hall sparked strong reactions in Turkey. Sweden also condemned the stunt.
Last April, riots broke out in Malmö after Paludan visited Sweden before the election to burn the Koran to drum up support for his movement and in early August 2020 when activists burned the Koran after Paludan was arrested.
A photo of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan provokes a violent reaction in Turkey
Far-right activist Rasmus Paludan burns a Koran at a campaign event in May 2022
The decision to allow the Koran to be burned comes amid strained relations between Sweden and Turkey after the latter decided to push back Sweden’s entry into NATO.
Sweden and Finland have been bidding for NATO membership since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but their bids must be approved by all 30 NATO member states.
The two Scandinavian countries are still dependent on votes from Turkey and Hungary, which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has promised will be cast in 2023.
But Turkish officials said the effigy hung by pro-Kurdish activists last week violated an earlier agreement under which Sweden and Finland would crack down on Kurdish militants as both seek Turkey’s approval of NATO membership.
Sweden is home to a large number of Kurds, many of whom fled Turkish persecution and subsequent crises in the Middle East in the late 1980s.
Melvut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, said Sweden’s lack of action over the effigy was “absurd” and that Sweden should not try to mislead Turkey by calling the law “freedom of speech”.
The country has increased pressure on Sweden in recent days, demanding that 130 so-called “terrorists” be extradited to Turkey before Turkey’s parliament approves NATO offers.
The burning of the Koran, despite being a majority Muslim country, is likely to provoke violent reactions in Turkey.
In April last year, 40 people were injured in riots in Sweden after clashes with counter-protesters at a rally led by Paludan, who was released by police.
Four police cars were set on fire and at least five injured when protesters threw stones and attacked police cordons.
Paludan led the rally in Sweden to rally support ahead of the September 2022 election with a plan to burn the Koran during the holy month of Ramadan.
Rasmus Paludan pictured burning a Koran at a May 2022 campaign rally in Stockholm
A bus burns as a police officer looks on after late-night riots in Malmö, southern Sweden, caused by an anti-Islamic Danish politician who performed Quran-burning stunts
Cars burn on the streets of Malmö in southern Sweden after riots were sparked by far-right Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, who was on a “tour” of the country in April 2022.
Rasmus Paludan has been at the center of Islamophobic politics in Northern Europe for many years.
He rose to prominence with the founding of his far-right party, Stram Kurs, which translates to “Hardline,” in Denmark in 2017.
The lawyer and YouTuber is known for burning the Koran and calling for the deportation of all Muslims from Denmark.
Paludan previously said: “The enemy is Islam and the Muslims. It would be best if there was not a single Muslim left on this earth. Then we would have reached our end goal.”
Stram Kurs gained traction in Denmark as the country’s traditional nationalist party, the Danish People’s Party, lost ground.
Paludan burns a Koran at a campaign rally in Husby, Stockholm, in May 2022
Protesters and counter-protesters clashed at a Stram-Course rally in Orebro last April
Dozens of people were also arrested in April 2022 in the cities of Norrköping and Linköping, hundreds of kilometers north of Malmö (photo), after similar riots broke out there
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Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
