Sweden
Stockholm police authorize the burning of the Koran in front of a mosque
The Koran, the holy book of Muslims. photo
© Vahid Salemi/AP/dpa
Anti-Islamic protests keep causing trouble between Sweden and Turkey – including in the negotiations about joining NATO. Now the relationship could be put to the test again.
The Stockholmers Police have approved a protest to burn a Koran. This emerges from the approval notice that was presented to the German Press Agency on Wednesday.
Accordingly, only two people were expected to attend the demonstration. According to the applicant’s letter, the protest was to take place on Wednesday afternoon in a square in front of the central mosque in the Swedish capital’s Södermalm district. The applicant wrote in it that he wanted to tear up the Koran and burn it.
If Islam’s holy scriptures are actually set on fire at the demonstration, it would be the first time since Swedish courts ruled that the police had no right to refuse permission to burn the Koran. In February, the police had forbidden two organizers to burn the Koran in Stockholm for security reasons.
A few months ago, Islamophobic protests caused considerable trouble between Sweden and Turkey. This poses a real problem for the Swedes: their application for NATO membership, which they submitted more than a year ago, is still stuck on the blockade by Turkey. The Turkish leadership justifies this attitude primarily with what they see as insufficient action by Sweden against “terrorist organizations”. Her main concern is the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK.