30 June 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday slammed Sweden after it allowed a copy of the Quran to be burnt in Stockholm and said Ankara would never bow down to a policy of provocation or threat, Reuters reported.
"We will teach the arrogant Western people that it is not freedom of expression to insult the sacred values of Muslims," he told party members on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha.
Erdogan said Turkiye would show the strongest possible reaction to what he called the vile protest.
Swedish police had granted permission for the anti-Quran protest to take place but later charged the man who carried it out with agitation against an ethnic or national group.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned the protest and said it was unacceptable to allow anti-Islam protests in the name of freedom of expression.
