After the worldwide condemnation of Quran Desecration, the US State Department also highlighted the incident in its latest press briefing. The State Department spokesperson Ned Price in his address termed it disgusting, vile, reprehensible, and repugnant. The spokesperson emphasized, that despite having freedom of expression and democracy in Sweden, such actions may not be supported as they might have terrible consequences. The response came when the leader of the Danish far-right political party, Rasmus Paludan burnt Holy Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Sweden under the protection of local police on January 20, 2023. The act was considered a reaction to Turkey’s delay in ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) membership bid by Sweden.
Moreover, the UN has also shown concerns over the disrespectful incident. The high representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations has called it a “vile act”, and stressed that this act has mounted an expression of hatred towards Muslims. Likewise, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Mumtaz Zahra Baloch in her statement considers the incident a sensitive and provocative act, which has hurt the religious sentiments of around 1.5 million Muslims across the globe.
Read More: Worldwide condemnations pour in over Quran burning in Sweden
In addition to this, Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait have also denounced the incident. Swedish leaders have also repeatedly condemned Paludan’s actions, the Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson tweeted;
“I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today,”
Following the incident, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has openly withdrawn all support for Sweden’s membership to NATO during the protest as he called it an attack on 85 million Turkish citizens. The President in his official statement said;
“If you do not show respect to the religious beliefs of the Republic of Turkey or Muslims, you will not receive any support for NATO [membership] from us,”
The President has already set out a series of tough conditions for Sweden, which includes a demand to extradite Kurdish suspects that Turkey has accused of terrorism or involvement in activities against the state. Turkey has also summoned the Swedish ambassador and cancelled a planned visit by Sweden’s defense minister.
Additionally, massive protests have taken place in Yemen, Iraq, Jordon, and Turkey since the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden.