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Turkey Urges Denmark to Take Urgent Action to Prevent Quran Burnings: Source


A woman holds a photograph of far-right activist Rasmus Paludan during a protest outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul on Jan. 28, 2023. Paludan infuriated Turkey by staging a Quran-burning protest in Sweden on Jan. 21. Last week, he replicated the stunt in Copenhagen.
A woman holds a photograph of far-right activist Rasmus Paludan during a protest outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul on Jan. 28, 2023. Paludan infuriated Turkey by staging a Quran-burning protest in Sweden on Jan. 21. Last week, he replicated the stunt in Copenhagen.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday urged Denmark to take urgent action to prevent burnings of the Quran, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

In a phone call with his Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Fidan condemned the "continuous vile attacks against the Quran." He told Rasmussen it was unacceptable to allow such actions under the guise of freedom of expression, the source said.

Rasmussen on Saturday wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter: "Turkey and Denmark are close allies. Important to not let these acts succeed in creating division."

He also reiterated Denmark's "strong condemnation of these provocative acts by few individuals."

The comments came after a small group of anti-Islam activists set fire to Qurans in front of the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in Copenhagen on Tuesday, after similar protests in Denmark and Sweden over recent weeks.

Denmark and Sweden have deplored the burning of Islam's holy book but say they cannot prevent it under rules protecting free speech.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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