Izmir, Turkey
An organization representing a primary Christian denomination in Turkey on Wednesday condemned the burning of Islam’s holy book, the Koran, in Stockholm, the Swedish capital.
“I consider the burning of the Koran in Sweden as an act aimed at provoking and humiliating the Muslim world. We do not approve of this act, we condemn it in the strongest terms imaginable,” Pastor Ertan Cevik, head of the Association of Protestant Baptist Churches in Türkiye, told reporters in the western province of Izmir.
Emphasizing the importance of nonviolent coexistence, he said such an attack, regardless of the religion it seeks to harm, is “pure provocation. “
“Many books were burned and destroyed in medieval Europe and, at the same time, many Jewish books were burned in the streets of the Nazi era,” he added.
Stressing that Christians are very unhappy with this provocation in Sweden, he said they discovered it very well that it had been authorized.
“This act of provocation has aroused the indignation of all religions. . . We condemn (such acts) because they are disrespectful of democracy, human rights and beliefs,” he added.
Praising Türkiye’s environment of tolerance, he said that during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 20 years at the helm of the Turkish government, he did his best to make sure all religious teams lived in peace.
On Saturday, Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Danish politician, burned a copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, with police cover and with the permission of the authorities, sparking a wave of condemnation in the Arab and Islamic worlds.