Turkey has warned its citizens of "possible attacks motivated by hatred of Muslims, xenophobic and racist" in the United States and Europe, after its Western allies warned their citizens in Turkey of possible attacks.
In two separate warnings to travelers, the Turkish Foreign Ministry asked its citizens in the United States and European countries to "behave calmly in the face of possible xenophobic and racist harassment and attacks".
The Foreign Ministry considered that the recent events reflect the serious level of religious intolerance and hatred in Europe, and that racist currents in Europe have reached levels of concern.
Following the recent incidents of burning the Qur'an in Europe, several embassies in Ankara - including the American, German, French and Italian - issued security warnings to their citizens in Turkey of "possible revenge attacks by terrorists on places of worship," as these embassies put it.
Today, Saturday, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked its citizens in Turkey to stay away from gatherings and demonstrations.
The leader of the extremist Danish "hard line" party, Rasmus Paludan, who is hostile to immigrants, burned the Holy Qur'an last week during a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, which exacerbated tensions between Turkey and Sweden, and Ankara also condemned similar incidents in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the recent attacks on the Holy Qur’an in European countries, noting that people who attack the Qur’an only reveal their personal disorder.