Türkiye summons Danish ambassador over permission of burning Muslim holy book Quran

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye summoned Danish Ambassador to Ankara Danny Annan​​​​​​​ over permission of burning the Muslim holy book Quran, according to diplomatic sources on Friday.

"The Danish Ambassador in Ankara has just been summoned to our Ministry after it was learned that an attack against our holy book, the Quran, was allowed in Denmark today (Jan. 27)," the sources added.

"It was conveyed to the ambassador that we strongly condemn the permission of this provocative act, which clearly constitutes a hate crime, and that this attitude of Denmark is unacceptable," they added.

Also, "it is emphasized that we expect the said act not to be allowed," it said.

Friday's attack came a week after Rasmus Paludan, an extreme-right Swedish-Danish politician on Jan. 21 burned a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, under police protection and with permission from the authorities, drawing a wave of condemnations from across the Arab and Islamic worlds.

On Jan. 22, Edwin Wagensveld, a far-right Dutch politician and the leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida, tore out pages from a copy of the Quran in The Hague. Wagensveld's video on Twitter showed that he burned the torn-out pages of the holy book in a pan.