ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye summoned the Norwegian Ambassador in Ankara Erling Skjonsberg over reported plans to desecrate the holy Quran in the Scandinavian country on Friday, according to Turkish diplomatic sources. “Upon learning that there will be an attack against our holy book, the Quran, in Norway tomorrow, the Norwegian ambassado...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Hate speech in Denmark benefited from “police protection” under “the name of freedom of expression,” says the latest report of the Council of Europe’s anti-racism commission ECRI. The report was released amid furor over recent Islamophobic acts by Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan, leader of...
STOCKHOLM (AA) – Police in Finland have said the public burning of Islam’s holy book would not be allowed in the country. The National Police Board said that burning a copy of the Quran would likely violate religious peace, which is a punishable offence in Finland. The public burning or other desecration of a book […]
ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye will not ratify Sweden’s bid for NATO membership unless it fulfills obligations under the tripartite memorandum, the country’s foreign minister has said. “If one day Sweden fulfills its obligations, then we will sit down and see. But at the moment, it is not possible for us to say yes to Sweden’s [...
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – The government of Quebec province has called for the resignation of Canada’s newly-appointed representative to fight Islamophobia. However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed his support for Amira Elghawaby. Elghawaby, a human rights activist and the world’s first government-appointed official ...
COPENHAGEN (AA) – Burning sacred books has nothing to do with freedom of expression, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in Denmark have said, denouncing the recent antics of extreme-right politician Rasmus Paludan. Paludan, a Danish-Swedish politician, has drawn global condemnation after desecrating the Quran outside a mosque in Copenhagen...
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AA) – Attacks against Islam’s holy book should be recognized as hate crimes, say former far-right politicians in the Netherlands who have converted to Islam. They say that Muslims are subjected to double standards. Former politician Arnoud van Doorn, who left the extreme right-wing Freedom Party, said that h...
ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye may consider Finland’s NATO bid separately from Sweden, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said. “If NATO and these countries (Finland and Sweden) take such a decision, we, as Türkiye, think that we may evaluate the applications separately, but first of all, NATO and these countries have to de...
MOSCOW (AA) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has blasted the desecration of the Quran in Stockholm “as another provocative act of Islamophobia.” “These blasphemous actions predictably provoked a harsh reaction in the Islamic world, including the Russian Muslim community,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news c...
ANKARA (AA) – In a Twitter survey conducted by Turkish news agency Anadolu, 92.5% of respondents said ‘no’ to Türkiye approving Sweden’s bid to join NATO. A total of 50,155 people responded to the 24-hour survey asking: “Do you think Türkiye should support Sweden’s bid to join NATO?” and many also shared the...
