Massive protests erupted in several Middle East countries including Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey days after a copy of the Quran was reportedly burnt in Sweden during protests against Turkey outside Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. The protesters outside the Swedish Embassy in Turkey, Yemen, burnt the national flag of Sweden and strongly condemned the incident of burning the Quran.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered on the streets of Yemen and Turkey and raised slogans against Sweden. They also have called for a boycott of all the Swedish brands like clothing brands named H&M, furniture brands IKEA, Skype, Volvo, Ericsson, Nordea, and more. The videos of the protests went viral over the internet in which the protesters could be seen raising slogans against Sweden and demanding a boycott of Swedish brands.
Salute to Turkey 🇹🇷#BoycottSwedenBrands pic.twitter.com/cJV8POhIwn
— ✯𝓐𝓶𝓲𝓷 𝓚𝓱𝓪𝓷✯ (@AK7T2) January 23, 2023
#BoycottSwedenBrands pic.twitter.com/aFAZWocvcA
— Shehr bano Fan (@officalUsamaPTI) January 23, 2023
Also, in some of the videos, people could be seen burning the Swedish national flag and praying for the end of polytheism (the practice of believing in multiple deities). One of the Twitter users shared the video of the protests and prayed, “May Allah destroy the polytheists, as the Quran has been burnt Nauzubillah, so may they burn in this world and hereafter, Ameen”.
May Allah destroy the polytheists, as the #Quran has been burnt Nauzubillah, so may it burn in this world and in the Hereafter, Ameen#BoycottSwedenBrandshttps://t.co/BQFcQUfbbP pic.twitter.com/aPtsG5H7pf
— Javeria Sheikh جویریہ شیخ (@Javeria__Sheikh) January 23, 2023
The incident of burning the Quran in Sweden happened on January 21 during the protest against Turkey. Two more protests were happening in Stockholm that day. One was in support of Kurds and another one was against Sweden’s bid to join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). As reported earlier, all three protests had permission from the Sweden Police.
According to the reports, Turkey condemned the Quran burning incident and called it a ‘vile act’. The country also said that the Swedish government’s decision to allow the protest to go ahead was ‘completely unacceptable’. The Quran was burnt by Rasmus Paludan, a politician from the Danish far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party.
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the incident happened after repeated warnings. “Permitting this anti-Islamic act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’ is completely unacceptable,” it said.
The protesters meanwhile also burnt the poster of Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, in front of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul on January 22. People protesting in Ankara and Istanbul also condemned Sweden for promoting ‘state-supported Islamophobia’ under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’. “We condemn Sweden’s state-supported Islamophobia,” flags and banners carried by protesters read.
The conflict between the two nations arose because Turkey delayed Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the NATO alliance. Following Russia’s war on Ukraine, both Scandinavian nations asked to join the alliance. Turkey, a NATO member, is utilizing its right to hold the applications under particular circumstances, including deporting critics of its President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and labeling Kurds as terrorists. The recent protest reportedly has most certainly reduced the likelihood of applications being approved.
