Türkiye condemns desecration of Quran, Turkish flag in Denmark

on Saturday denounced the desecration of the Quran and the Turkish flag in Denmark, the second such instance in the country this year.

The incident late Friday was a hate crime, the Foreign Ministry said, stressing that Türkiye will never accept such “vile actions being allowed under the guise of freedom of expression.”

“This act, which was carried out in (the holy Islamic month of) Ramadan, has once again clearly revealed that Islamophobia, discrimination and xenophobia have reached an alarming level in Europe and that no lessons have been learned from the past,” it added.

The ministry urged Danish authorities to take immediate action against the perpetrators and concrete measures to prevent further provocations that threaten social harmony and peaceful coexistence.

The National Defense Ministry too condemned “the vile, barbaric, and disgusting attack” in Denmark targeting the Quran and the Turkish flag.

This “wrongful attitude” of Denmark, which is also a NATO ally, is against both the spirit of alliance and universal values, it said, stressing that Denmark “should immediately find those responsible for committing this hate crime.”

The far-right anti-Muslim group Patrioterne Gar Live displayed Islamophobic banners and desecrated the Quran and the Turkish flag in front of the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen. The far-right group also broadcast it live on their Facebook page.

Recent months have seen several acts of Quran burning, or attempts to do so, by Islamophobic figures or groups in northern Europe and Nordic countries.

In January, ultranationalist, farright extremist and racist politician Rasmus Paludan also burnt a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm and again in front of a mosque in Copenhagen. Türkiye summoned the Danish and Swedish ambassadors over the incident.

Days after Paludan, another farright extremist Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the anti-Islam party PEGIDA, tore apart a Quran before setting it on fire at a demonstration in Enschede, the Netherlands.

The desecration of the Quran has since drawn worldwide outrage and condemnation and calls for an end to the authorization of Islamophobic protests.