Arab nations have strongly condemned the burning of the Quran and Turkish flag by a group of Islamophobic extremists in front of the Turkish Embassy in Denmark on Friday.
Supporters of a far-right anti-Muslim group called “Patrioterne Gar Live” burned the Quran and the Turkish flag in front of the Turkish Embassy in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, raising anti-Islamic banners and chanting slogans insulting the religion.
The attack was broadcast live on the group's Facebook account.
Saudi Arabia denounced the attack speaking out against the burning of the Qur’an and Turkish flag by the extremists. Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar also joined the Kingdom in condemning the acts saying the actions provoked hatred against Muslims, especially during Ramadan.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates spokesperson Sinan Majali, said the act incited hatred and racism.
“Burning the Holy Qur’an is a serious act of hate and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insults to religions and cannot be considered a form of freedom of expression at all,” Majali said in a statement.
The statement went on to urge the Danish authorities to prevent a repeat of such actions that “fuel violence and hatred and threaten peaceful coexistence.”
A statement by the Kuwait Foreign Ministry warned that the burning of the Qur’an risked provoking an angry backlash from Muslims around the globe. The ministry called for holding perpetrators accountable, making sure that “freedom of expression is not used to offend Islam or any other religion.”
Qatar too condemned in the “strongest terms” the burning of a copy of the Qur’an, warning that the latest incident represented a “dangerous escalation” of incidents targeting Muslims.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the burning of the Qur’an under the claim of freedom of expression “threatens the values of peaceful coexistence, and reveals abhorrent double standards.”
The ministry reaffirmed Qatar’s rejection of “all forms of hate speech based on belief, race or religion.”
The Qatari foreign ministry called on the international community to “reject hatred, discrimination, incitement and violence, underlining the importance of upholding the principles of dialogue and mutual understanding.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement had condemned the attack as a ‘hate crime’ describing it as "despicable, barbaric and heinous” adding that it would never accept such “vile actions being allowed under the guise of freedom of expression,” Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported.
Turkey has called on the Danish authorities to take action against those responsible and to ensure further incidents did not happen “that threaten social harmony and peaceful coexistence,” the report added.