Protesters in Istanbul burn the Swedish flag in front of the country's Consulate General after Swedish citizen and leader of the Danish far-right party Hard Line, Rasmus Paludan, burned a copy of the Quran near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, on Jan. 21, 2023. (Credit: AFP)
Turkey summoned Denmark's ambassador Friday to condemn a protest at which a far-right extremist burned the Quran over Ankara's refusal to let Sweden and Finland join NATO.
An AFP team witnessed anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan burn a copy of the Muslim holy book near a Copenhagen mosque.
The Danish-Swedish dual national pledged to perform the same act outside the Turkish embassy later Friday.
A decision by Swedish police to allow Paludan to stage a similar protest in Stockholm prompted Turkey to postpone planned NATO accession talks with Sweden and Finland.
A Turkish diplomatic source said the Danish ambassador was summoned to protest Denmark's "unacceptable" attitude towards Paludan's actions.
"We strongly condemn the decision to grant permission for this provocative act, which clearly constitutes a hate crime," the Turkish diplomatic source told reporters.
Paludan vowed on Friday to stage weekly actions involving the Quran until Turkey approves Sweden and Finland's NATO membership.
Swedish leaders have strongly condemned Paludan's action but defended their country's broad acceptance of free speech.
Finland and Sweden broke with decades of military non-alignment and decided to join NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Bids to join NATO must be approved by all 30 members of the alliance.
Turkey and fellow NATO member Hungary are the only members that have yet to ratify the two applications by votes in parliament.
Hungary's parliament is expected to ratify the two bids next month.
An AFP team witnessed anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan burn a copy of the Muslim holy book near a Copenhagen mosque.
The Danish-Swedish dual national...