Al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious institutions of Sunni Islam based in Egypt, called on Wednesday for "a boycott of Swedish and Dutch products" after the desecration of Korans by far-right activists this weekend in Sweden and in the Netherlands.

As part of a protest authorized by Swedish police near the Turkish embassy, ​​Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Koran on Saturday.

On Sunday, a Dutch leader of the Islamophobic movement Pegida was filmed, alone, tearing up pages from a copy of the Koran near the Dutch parliament, before trampling them.

According to Dutch public television NOS, however, the local police prevented him from burning the holy book of Muslims.

These two events sparked strong protests from Ankara and several capitals of the Muslim world as well as demonstrations in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

convictions

In a statement, the Sunni institution called on "Muslims to boycott Dutch and Swedish products", demanding "an appropriate response to the governments of these two countries (...) and their persistence in protecting despicable and barbaric crimes in the name of 'freedom of speech' ".

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry "strongly condemned" the two acts in statements, expressing in the second Monday its "deep concern at the recurrence of such events and the recent Islamophobic escalation in a number of European countries".

Sweden calls for calm

Stockholm, for its part, deplored an act "deeply disrespectful" and expressed its "sympathy" to Muslims, stressing that the Swedish Constitution prevented from prohibiting this type of action.

This was not enough to calm the anger of Turkey, more determined than ever to block Sweden's candidacy for NATO membership.

Monday Washington described the burning of the Koran as a "repugnant" act, denouncing a "provocation" and a "deliberate desire to influence the ongoing discussions on Sweden's and Finland's accession to NATO" and to "weaken" transatlantic unity.

"I want to renew a working dialogue with Turkey," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told him at a press conference on Tuesday, criticizing the "provocateurs" who are trying to destabilize the Swedish candidacy and calling for "calm" in the face of to a "serious" situation.

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Koran burned in Stockholm: Sweden expresses its "sympathy" to Muslims

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  • Desecration

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