Türkiye’s former Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and current head of the parliamentary commission of national defense, has called on the international community to put a stop to recent “perverse and antiquated” Quran burnings in Europe.
“Everyone, including the leaders of these countries, must recognize that if necessary precautions aren’t immediately taken, these immoral and irrational acts that recall the Dark Ages will sabotage collective peace in especially Europe,” Akar told reporters in Ankara on Saturday.
The ex-minister was referring to several demonstrations in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark where copies of Islam’s holy book were burned since the start of 2023, causing outrage among Muslims and prompting protests worldwide. Denmark and Sweden have said they deplore the burning of the Quran but cannot prevent it under rules protecting "free speech."
Türkiye, which holds a veto over Swedish NATO membership, has condemned the protests and called on Stockholm to take action against the perpetrators.
Akar too denounced the incidents, adding: “But we see these are not sufficient and preventive responses. The disrespect and attacks against Quran and many other holy books are still not considered criminal by law in many countries.” Akar pointed to a U.N. General Assembly resolution that considered any kind of violent act against holy books as a violation of international law, for which Türkiye was a joint presenter.
“While this resolution isn’t an absolute and sufficient solution, it’s still significant in the face of Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark authorizing the burning of our holy book under police protection,” Akar stressed, calling on the international community, starting with Muslims worldwide, to act together against such “hate crimes.”
Akar further emphasized the importance of getting in touch with ombudsmen, human rights commissions and watchers for Muslims and believers of other faiths, as well as citizens respectful of human rights, living in countries where the act doesn’t yet constitute a crime.
“They must utilize every legitimate method and right to reach out to municipalities and national, local assemblies to express their strong condemnation of such acts. Every contribution must be made in order to garner public support for these acts to be considered criminal offenses and enshrine it in law,” Akar urged.
Islamophobic actions carried out by small groups in Sweden and Denmark, in which copies of the Quran were burned, have recently led to widespread protests in several Muslim countries.
Reactions were particularly strong in Iraq, whose government expelled the Swedish ambassador. Earlier, demonstrators in Baghdad broke into the Swedish Embassy and set fire to part of it.
On Monday, the Swedish radio station SVT reported that the person responsible had canceled a Quran burning announced for Saturday. However, further actions were planned. In fact, Swedish police received more applications asking for permission to burn religious texts in the country next week. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed “extreme concern” about a new wave of desecrations that could further escalate tensions with the Muslim world but he still argued it was “the police making those decisions, not me.”
