Türkiye warns religious intolerance in Europe

Türkiye warned about the dangerous dimensions of religious intolerance in Europe

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Türkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a strongly-worded statement criticising the desecration of the Quran in Europe in the guise of “freedom of speech”.

The statement defines the burning and tearing of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, as a “hate crime” and says Türkiye condemns “in the strongest terms” the acts that have been committed in Sweden, the Netherlands, and finally, in Denmark today.

Referring to Rasmus Paludan, the extremist who burns the Quran on a regular basis to provoke Muslims, as the “Islam-hating charlatan” who committed these acts of sacrilege, Türkiye says Ankara is worried about “the dangerous dimensions of religious intolerance and hatred in Europe.” 

“Europe tolerating such heinous acts that offend the sensitivities of millions of people” threaten “the practice of peaceful coexistence” while at the same time provoking “racist, xenophobic and anti-Islamic attacks” that are an everyday occurrence in Europe, the statement said.

It also criticised governments “that remain unresponsive” in the face of such actions that “marginalise Muslims who are an integral part of European society” and asked them not to show support as “the universal values they claim to defend are trampled underfoot”.