Dispute over the burning of the Qur’an: Türkiye issues several arrest warrants

Turkey’s justice minister has launched investigations into the suspects who were said to have burned the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January. There has also been diplomatic turmoil between Iraq and Sweden for weeks.

The dispute between Iraq and Sweden over the burning of the Koran extends to Türkiye. Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunek announced on Friday that arrest warrants had been issued for politician Rasmus Paludan and nine other suspects who allegedly burned a Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January. “The Public Prosecutor’s Office has pushed for a full investigation to identify the suspects and gather conclusive information on their identities and evidence of their criminal activities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sweden has withdrawn all of its embassy staff from Baghdad for security reasons. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm announced that the tasks of diplomatic representation in Iraq will be carried out temporarily from Sweden. On Thursday evening, an angry mob stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire.

Already several incinerators of the Koran in Sweden

The impetus for this was a gathering authorized by the Swedish police in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, where a Qur’an was to be burned. According to eyewitness reports, a book that protesters called the Koran was trampled upon and damaged during Thursday’s protest. During the march, Iraq recalled its ambassador to Stockholm.

In Sweden, copies of the Quran have been burned several times during protests. Far-right Paludan, who holds dual Swedish and Danish citizenship, set fire to a Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January at an anti-Turkish rally. Even then, the government in Ankara condemned the “sickening attack on our holy book”.