How did the incident of burning the Quran in Sweden

The incident of burning Quran in Sweden is a strong reaction of Muslim majority countries including Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

Turkey has expressed strong criticism and anger over the burning of a copy of the holy book of Muslims during a protest in Sweden, calling it a "despicable act".

Turkey said the Swedish government's decision to allow the protests was "completely unacceptable".

In fact, the conflict between Turkey and Sweden at the diplomatic level is increasing to a great extent.

Turkey has also canceled the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson to Turkey, requesting Sweden to end the protests. In addition, Turkey says that the visit has now "lost its significance and meaning."

How did the incident of burning the Quran in Sweden?

The fact is that Sweden wants to join NATO's military alliance and NATO member Turkey is strongly against it.

Being a member of NATO, it can object to another country joining the alliance and force it to withdraw.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership after the Russo-Ukraine war broke out. For this reason, right-wing activists in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, are protesting against Turkey.

During these protests, Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right Storm Kris party, has been implicated in a plot to burn a copy of the Holy Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on Saturday.

Paludan had also held rallies last year in which he had threatened to burn the Quran and as a result the protests had started.

Sweden's Prime Minister Alf Kristerson has also strongly condemned the incident.

The Prime Minister of Sweden said that freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy, but what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. For many people, burning holy books is highly sacrilegious.

He wrote, "I want to express my sympathy to all Muslims who have been deeply hurt by this incident in Stockholm today."

What is the reason for the conflict between Turkey and Sweden?

It was believed that the visit of the Swedish defense minister to Turkey would show that Turkey is not opposed to Sweden joining NATO.

However, last year, Turkey opposed Sweden and Finland's application to join NATO. He then removed his veto last year to prevent the two countries from joining NATO.

Turkey wants the two Nordic countries to stop supporting armed Kurdish groups like Sweden and Turkey to the PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party) and lift an embargo on certain arms sales to Turkey.

Turkey says that Sweden has sheltered some members of the group. However, Sweden has been denying these allegations.

Turkey also wants political concessions, including the extradition of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and critics of Kurdish leaders who have been labeled terrorists.