Sweden Prohibited Protests On Burns Of The Al-Qur'an Outside The Turkish Embassy

Illustration of Swedish police. (Wikimedia Commons/AleWi)

JAKARTA - Swedish police banned protests followed by plans to burn the Koran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on Wednesday.

Protesters were denied permission after police ruled it could pose a serious danger to national security, Swedish police said.

Earlier, a January protest was also held near the embassy by far-right extremists, the first in a spate of protests, including some in Denmark and the Netherlands, sparking international outrage. Other protests are banned in Norway.

"Recently, protests to burn the Qur'an have sparked a very harsh reaction, resulting in a change in the picture of the threat to Sweden," police said.

Last month's burning resulted in the membership submission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Sweden and Finland, with Turkey not yet ratifying the applications of the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially focused his criticism on what he said was a lack of attempt to crack down on terrorist groups.

But last month, President Erdogan ruled out supporting the Swedish app, after a right-wing activist set the Al-Qur'an on fire in Stockholm. He called it a "racist crime".

Sweden also condemned the protests, but they were unable to deter Turkey from canceling diplomatic travel, a trilateral meeting originally held by Sweden, Turkey, and Finland in Brussels, Belgium this month.

It is known that anti-immigration politician Rasmus Paludan, leader of Denmark's hardline far-right political party, was behind the first protests.

But Paludan is not behind the protests that are now prohibited from being planned for Thursday afternoon, reports the public broadcaster SVT.