Turkey’s government has summoned the Dutch ambassador to Ankara on Tuesday to protest the «vile attack» by «an Islamophobic person» on a Quran in The Hague, after Edwin Wagensveld, a senior member of Patriots Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), trampled and tore a Quran during an event in support of the burning of a Quran at a protest in Sweden.
«We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack by an Islamophobic person in The Hague, the Netherlands, against our holy book, the Quran,» the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement in which it added that «this despicable act insults sacred values and is a hate crime, this time in the Netherlands, after Sweden.»
Thus, he stressed that «it is a clear statement that Islamophobia, discrimination and xenophobia have no borders in Europe» and noted that «these actions act directly against the fundamental rights and freedoms, moral values and social tolerance not only of Muslims, but of all humanity.» «It also damages the culture of coexistence in peace,» he has argued.
Ankara has therefore said the Dutch ambassador has been summoned to convey a «strong protest» to this «heinous and despicable act.» «We have called on the Netherlands not to allow such provocative acts. We expect the Dutch authorities to take the necessary action against the person responsible for this incident and to implement concrete measures to prevent its repetition,» he concluded.
Wagensveld posted on his Twitter social network account a video of him trampling and tearing a Quran. «People who know and follow us know that we never give up. We are not intimidated by violence and death threats. Not words, but deeds. After being arrested twice before, today was the third time. A pleasure,» he added.
Likewise, the far-right Dutchman showed his support for the burning of a Koran in Stockholm and asked «not to worry about threats» from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he called «a murderer, a supporter of Islamic State and a genocide denier.» «The right to demonstrate in your country is more important than any consequences from this weirdo,» he remonstrated.
Erdogan said Monday that Sweden should not «expect» Turkish support for NATO membership today after the burning of a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm during a protest led by right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan, an act condemned by the Swedish government.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
