Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi who fled his country to Sweden, burned several pages of the Koran outside a mosque on Wednesday during a government-sanctioned rally.
A 37-year-old Iraqi man burned pages of a copy of the Koran at a Swedish police-sanctioned “rally” outside Stockholm’s largest mosque on Wednesday, angering Ankara, which denounced an “unacceptable” act.
This new incident could cloud Sweden’s prospects for NATO membership, which Turkey is blocking.
The event, which coincides with Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world, brought together around a hundred spectators and journalists.
Dressed in beige chinos and a light-colored shirt, Salwan Momika stomped on the Koran several times before shoving in slices of bacon and burning a few pages.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan immediately condemned the incident on Twitter: “It is unacceptable to allow these anti-Islamic actions under the pretext of freedom of expression.”
Washington joined the criticism, saying it supports Sweden’s NATO membership “as soon as possible”.
“We have always said that burning religious texts is disrespectful and offensive,” Deputy State Department Spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
“Behind the concepts of democracy and freedom there is only hatred”
The issue is sensitive in the Nordic country. A January demonstration in which a Koran was burned in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm had already angered Ankara and the Muslim world, leading to demonstrations and calls to boycott Swedish products.
“It’s crazy, it’s absolutely crazy, it’s just hate that hides behind the concepts of democracy and freedom,” responded Noa Omran, a 32-year-old artist who came to witness the scene.
The police had previously announced that they would authorize “the assembly” because the “security risks” associated with the burning of the Koran “are not suitable for banning it”. But at the end of the day she announced that she would file a complaint against the organizer, in particular for incitement to hatred.
In his request for prior permission, the organizer of the book burning, Salwan Momika, said he wanted to “express his opinion on the Koran”. “I will tear up the Qur’an and burn it,” he wrote.
Mr Momika made a similar request in February, which was rejected by the police.
According to an April 5 article in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Mr Momika assured that his intention was not to complicate Sweden’s membership of the Atlantic Alliance.
“I don’t want to harm this country, which has taken me in and preserved my dignity,” he told the newspaper, adding that he wants the Koran to be banned in Sweden.