Turkey slams Islamophobic protests in Sweden

Protests in Stockholm Saturday against Turkey and Sweden's bid to join Nato, including the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur'an, sharply heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when the Nordic country needs Ankara's backing to gain entry to the military alliance.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book...
Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
Its statement was issued after an anti-immigrant politician from the far-right fringe burned a copy of the Holy Qur'an near the Turkish Embassy.
The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia.
A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden's bid to join Nato.
A group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had police permits.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling.
Several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait denounced the Koran-burning."Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join Nato following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but all 30 member states must approve their bids.
At the demonstration to protest Sweden's Nato bid and to show support for Kurds, speakers stood in front of a large red banner reading "We are all PKK", referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party that is outlawed in Turkey, Sweden, and the United States among other countries, and addressed several hundred pro-Kurdish and left-wing supporters.
Police said the situation was calm at all three demonstrations.
In Istanbul, people in a group of around 200 protesters set fire to a Swedish flag in front of the Swedish consulate in response to the burning of the Holy Qur'an.
Earlier Saturday, Turkey said that due to lack of measures to restrict protests, it had cancelled a planned visit to Ankara by the Swedish defence minister.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said he had discussed with Erdogan the lack of measures to restrict protests in Sweden against Turkey.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry had already summoned Sweden's ambassador on Friday over the planned protests.