Muslims Erupts After Qur'an Burning: Turkey Rejects Sweden's NATO Membership Unless It Submits to Islamic Blasphemy Laws

Protests in Stockholm on Saturday against Turkey and Sweden’s bid to join NATO, including burning a copy of the Qur’an, have massively escalated tensions with Turkey. Especially at a time when the Nordic country needs the Islamic nation’s backing to gain entry to the military alliance. It appears that after Sweden did not comply with Turkey’s demands to impose Sharia blasphemy laws on its population, Turkey is saying no to Sweden’s NATO application.

Now the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to mitigate the Muslims’ anger through a note in the window of the consulate in Istanbul. The note reads, “we do not share the views of the book-burning idiot.”

Rasmus Paludan

In an act to preserve Sweden’s right to free speech, Danish-Swedish politician and leader of the Danish Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party, Rasmus Paludan, burned a copy of Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an. This time Paludan, who has held many prior Qur’an burning protests in the name of free speech, lit the book on fire adjacent to the Turkish embassy behind riot fences and with police protection and bodyguards.

(RAIR Foundation USA has interviewed Mr. Paludan on several occasions on why he burns Qur’ans, see here for his most recent RAIR interview)

Before the demonstrations, Turkey demanded that Sweden crack down on the left-wing radical Kurds and other groups that the Islamic country considers “terrorists.” Turkey defines anyone who disrespects its President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Islam’s holy books or prophet, as a “terrorist” and will be legally punished or physically harmed under that rubric. 

On Friday evening, the AFP news agency reported that Staffan Herrström, Sweden’s ambassador in Ankara, has been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the information. Turkey demanded that Sweden’s government stop the demonstrations, which are constitutionally protected under Swedish law.

Turkey demands sharia-compliance

Paludan’s issue is not with Sweden joining NATO; the politician explained, “I have no problem with Sweden joining NATO, but you should not pay for it by removing freedom of expression. That price is too high, explained Paludan. “Firstly, Erdogan seems to believe that he can make all sorts of unreasonable demands for Sweden to change its form of government.”

“Secondly, he seems to think that Swedes must respect him, says Paludan. “I can’t speak for all Swedes, but I don’t think that the Islamic dictator in Turkey is someone many Swedes have respect for.”

Paludan emphasizes that he does not have the same purpose for his demonstration as those who usually demonstrate against Erdogan. “The difference is that those left-wing extremists are having some kind of demonstration to help Kurdish terrorists in Sweden, which is idiotic. I demonstrate for freedom of speech in Sweden, explained Paludan.

Can believe what he wants – in Turkey

In an interview leading up to Saturday’s demonstration, Paludan mentions the so-called Böhmermann affair in Germany in 2016 when the German journalist and TV personality Jan Böhmermann read a poem on television where he mocked the Turkish president. Among other things, he said that Erdogan “fucks goats,” has oral sex with sheep, and smells worse than a fart from a pig.

Then-Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the green light to a defamation lawsuit against the Erdogan-critical journalist. He was sentenced to pay a symbolic fine and was threatened with a million Euro fine if he repeated the poem about Erdogan. Böhmermann also had his life threatened by Turkish nationalists living in Germany.

“It is a very funny poem that shows what you must not say about Erdogan. I think you should have it in Sweden to show that we don’t have that much respect for him”, says Paludan.

“Then I think it is important that Erdogan also gets to believe in what he wants. In Turkey, he can believe in Islam if he wants to. I have no problem with that. But other Swedes and I have to show that we don’t like Islam. That’s the thing.

Submit, or we will kill your application

Paludan received permission from the state to burn a Qur’an that he himself owns. Shortly before Paludan’s demonstration was to take place outside the Turkish embassy, Turkey’s Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar demanded that Sweden makes sure to stop it. Despite Turkish pressure, the Nordic government did not comply with the demand to apply Islamic blasphemy laws and allowed the burning of the Quran to proceed. Now the Islamic nation has demanded that Sweden’s NATO application is denied.

Turkish correspondent Ragip Soylu writes on Twitter that Turkey’s parliament will not approve Sweden’s NATO application “under these circumstances” – and refers to the Kurdish network Rojava Committees’ hanging of the Erdogan doll at Stockholm’s city hall last week and the burning of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy today.

Earlier on Saturday, it became known that Turkey is canceling its meeting with Sweden’s Defense Minister Pål Jonson (M), which was supposed to have taken place on January 27. This is punishment for not complying with Islamic law and for supporting free speech in defiance of Islamic law.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed the “far-right” Qur’an burning, calling it a hate crime and a ‘racist and horrendous move.’ The FM said that a hate crime is not freedom of speech, and Ankara hopes Swedish authorities will act to restrict all protests to burn the Islamic holy book Quran.

The Turkish FM called the demonstration a so-called “hate crime,” likely to justify a kinetic response to the desecration of the Islamic book.

It is not particularly right-wing extremist or “far-right” to think that you must follow the Danish and Swedish constitutions, Paludan stressed during the demonstration, after being called a right-wing extremist by Swedish and Islamic media and leaders.

The consequences of angering Islam

Shortly after the Qur’an burning, hordes of angry and violent Muslims gathered outside the Swedish Consulate in Istanbul, chanting the Islamic war cry, Allahu akbar – meaning “Allah is the greatest.”

The Turkish activists also chanted the slogan, “Sweden should be looted; Paludan should be hanged.”

The protests have been going on since Saturday and are growing. Journalist Abdullah Bozkurt shared a video where thousands of people in the city of Batman are protesting. The demonstration is said to have been organized by Iran-backed Turkish Hizbullah – who, according to Bozkurt, is politically allied with President Erdogan.

Furthermore, there are reports of new protests outside the embassy in Ankara and the consulate general in Istanbul.

Thousands of angry young Muslims marched through the streets to the Swedish Consulate after their morning prayers:

Anlık isveç konsolosluğu önü pic.twitter.com/AOPpu9zCAw

— acaroloji (@acarograf) January 22, 2023

İstanbul İsveç konsolosluğu önünde Kur’an Nesli Platformu tarafından organize edilen basın açıklamasının ardından İsveç konsolosluğunun camına; Biz bir ahmağın yaptığı eylemi kabul etmiyoruz diye yazı astılar. Ahmaklar… pic.twitter.com/5wMbET6jHv

— Fatih Sivi (@selam_41) January 22, 2023

Turkish people gather in front of the Swedish consulate in Istanbul to protest Sweden allowing a far-right politician set fire to a copy of the Quranhttps://t.co/K5IOnYPsYc pic.twitter.com/R0g9kUmslg

— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) January 22, 2023

A picture from the window of the Swedish Consulate General in Istanbul is also circulating on social media. The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff has launched a campaign against Rasmus Paludan, calling him a “book-burning idiot”.

Paludan Calls the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Actions ‘Illegal’

The Swedish news site, Samnytt spoke to Paludan on Sunday regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs campaign in Turkey: 

It is illegal. As an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you indicate what you think of opinion leaders in Sweden. As a public employee, you must not go out on the job and call individual Swedish citizens idiots because you do not like their legal opinion, says Paludan and continues:

The foreign minister does not have the qualifications necessary to be a foreign minister. Because if he had, he would have made it clear to his employees that they were not allowed to do that.

Paludan believes the campaign is based on the staff “lacking personal stake and the necessary human values ​​to work within the state.” Furthermore, he believes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff are afraid.

If you are afraid that people will be angry, you should not work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After all, they are Sweden’s representatives abroad, and it is not possible for one to go down on one’s knees because one is afraid. It is the same if you want to work in the army or the police.

Day of Rage

Some analysts speculate that this event could trigger a “day of rage” in the Islamic world. A specific planned set of actions that advance the cause of submission to Islam in the West through violent and usually deadly protests. They often end with Western countries passing laws in accordance with Sharia norms of speech control and blasphemy, such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 16/18. This law, co-sponsored by Hillary Clinton and Pakistan, forbids any form of blasphemy, criticism, or negative comment about the Islamic religion, making them a crime in the same way incitement against a group of people would be a crime.

Paludan was added to al-Qaeda’s “Kill List”

Politicians and left-wing media do not seem to understand that Paludan and his political party Stram Kurs are attempting to preserve the freedoms of citizens. Instead, they are fighting to ensure the safety of non-muslims who live under threat and regular attacks from imported Islamic supremacists.

Paludan’s mission is to educate the public on the damaging effects of Islam, fight against Sharia, and protect Swedes who are under attack by Islamic supremacists. Unfortunately, his mission to help others has landed him on the Muslim terrorist group al-Qaeda’s “Kill List.”

As Paludan has previously explained to RAIR Foundation USA, he believes that highlighting the inevitable violence from the slightest provocation will demonstrate the Swedish police’s loss of control over Islamic migrant areas. Mr. Paludan stated:

Sweden has been much more disturbed by Islam than Denmark. Our actions have shown that freedom of speech and freedom of peaceful assembly no longer exists in Sweden. Now, Sharia is the law of the land.

With Left-wing politicians, Antifa, and Islamic supremacists aligning, these threats are only growing more dangerous by the day.

Freedom of Expression

Every freedom-loving country must ask whether sovereignty and freedom should allow unpopular thoughts and expressions, including the burning of the Qur’an, the Bible, or the Torah.

For example, the ‘work of art’ known as “The Piss Christ” was a Catholic Crucifix placed in a jar of the artist’s urine. This piece of “art” was shown in national galleries and achieved critical acclaim. Yet, no Western governments demanded the criminalization of this “art,” which was even subsidized by tax dollars from more than one Western nation.

The attempt to enact special legislation to protect Islam in Western and secular nations is a joint Islamic and Marxist effort to stop any dissenting expression. Dissenting expression is typically any attempt to defend Western and especially American culture, values, and identity.  Specifically, values of individual rights and liberties protect the public from authoritarian states, be they socialist or theocratic, as in Muslim nations.

The West must understand that at its core, “Hate speech” is simply the Marxist version of Islamic blasphemy laws. Both are intended to prevent any speech that threatens ruling authoritarians and their policies.

Read more of RAIR’s coverage on Rasmus Paludan:

• Exclusive Interview: Politician Rasmus Paludan On Why He Burns Qur’ans and Sweden Went Up in Flames (Watch)
• Danish Politician Rasmus Paludan Fights Back: Sues Sweden Over His Unconstitutional Ban (Watch)
• WATCH: Danish Politician Rasmus Paludan put on Al-Qaeda Hit List (Exclusive Interview)
• Head Of Danish Political Party Rasmus Paludan Savagely Attacked By Muslims Yet Arrested For ‘Racism’ (Exclusive Interview)
• Sharia Denmark: Head of Political Party Rasmus Paludan Heads to Prison for Crime of ‘Racism’ (Watch)
• Quran Riots in Sweden: Islamic Migrants Violently Seize Control As Police Retreat (UPDATE: 3 Rioters Shot)
• Prime Minister of Pakistan: ‘The Day Will Come when Westerners Think Twice before Disrespecting the Prophet’