Thousands of people took part in protests across Muslim majority nations on Friday after a second incident in Sweden involving the desecration of the Qur’an.
The episode left the Swedish government apologetic and fearing that the outrage in the Middle East may delay Turkey lifting its veto on Sweden’s membership of Nato.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said at the Nato summit in Vilnius that he would recommend the Turkish parliament ratify Sweden’s application, ending Turkey’s year-long veto, but on returning from a trip from the Gulf he merely said Turkish ratification was contingent on the steps taken by Sweden.
In the latest incident, a Swedish-based Iraqi refugee, Salwan Momika, of Christian origin but now a self-described atheist, threatened to burn a copy of the Qur’an. In the event, he kicked, dropped and stepped on the holy book outside the Iraq embassy on Thursday, but did not burn it. Momika, 37, had police permission for his protest.
It was the second incident allegedly involving Momika, who last month was identified in local and social media as the man who had burned a copy of the Qur’an outside a Stockholm mosque during the holiday of Eid al-Adha, prompting widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.
His most recent threats to burn the holy book led to the storming of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early on Thursday, the most serious of many protests across the region, and caused Iraq to cut diplomatic ties with Sweden.
The Swedish foreign ministry responded by saying: “Iraqi authorities have an unequivocal obligation to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff in accordance with the Vienna convention. It is clear that the Iraqi authorities have failed to fulfil this obligation.” However, the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, instructed the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad to leave Iraq.
After Friday prayers, hundreds of people, mainly supporters of the populist Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, gathered in Baghdad’s Sadr City chanting “Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Qu’ran”.
There were also street protests in Tehran, with a ritual burning of the Swedish flag, and in Lebanon and Kuwait.
Erdoğan has reconvened the Turkish parliament for an emergency August session on 25 July, suggesting he may be preparing to lift the veto on Swedish membership of Nato. However, in discussions with reporters he said: “It would be in Sweden’s favour if they take concrete steps on the fight against terrorist organisations and on the extradition of terrorists.”
“We expect promises to be fulfilled,” Erdogan added, referring to a deal struck by Turkey, Sweden and Finland last year in Madrid aimed at addressing Ankara’s concerns about Kurdish separatists’ activities in Sweden.
Speaking of the Qu’ran desecration, the new Turkish justice minister, Yilmaz Tunç, called for “comprehensive investigations to identify the suspects and gather clear identity information and evidence of their criminal actions”. Turkey’s foreign ministry called on Sweden to take “dissuasive measures to prevent hate crimes against Islam and its billions of followers”.
Sweden’s membership of Nato does not turn only on the country’s approach to dissidents, but on whether the US will sell F-16s to Turkey – something that depends on the assurances Turkey is willing to give the US Senate about keeping out of Greek airspace.
The UK Foreign Office, eager to soothe Turkish concerns over Sweden, said in a statement: “The burning and desecration of the Qur’an in Stockholm is deeply insulting to Muslims around the world and completely inappropriate. We denounce hatred on the basis of religion or belief. We will defend freedom of religion or belief for all, and promote mutual respect. We recognise the deep suffering experienced by Muslims around the world caused by the burning of the Qur’an.”
