Turkish community in Switzerland protest Quran burning in Sweden

BERN, Switzerland

The Turkish community in Switzerland on Thursday protested the burning of a copy of Islam’s holy book Quran in Sweden at the weekend.

Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Danish politician, on Saturday, burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm under police protection and with permission from the authorities.

Presidents and managers of Turkish nongovernmental organizations in Switzerland participated in the protest led by the Swiss Turkish Society, an umbrella organization of Turkish NGOs in Switzerland, in front of the Swedish Embassy in Bern.

In a statement on behalf of the protesters, Swiss Turkish Society President Suat Sahin said they strongly condemned the "vile attack" against the Quran.

Sahin said: "The fact that this anti-Islamic provocative action targeting Muslims and insulting our sacred values was allowed under the name of freedom of expression, and that such an action was carried out under police surveillance, deeply upsetting and hurting the Swiss Turkish community as well as all Muslims."

He further said they are concerned about the alarming level that Islamophobic, racist and discriminatory acts have reached in Europe. Impunity for such acts would encourage enemies of Islam, he added.

Sahin called on the Swedish authorities to take the necessary action against the perpetrators of this act and to take measures to prevent similar acts from happening again.

Later, he left copies of the statement in Turkish and German in the mailbox of the Swedish Embassy in Bern.

During the protest, security measures were taken in and around the Swedish Embassy.