GCC countries strongly condemn burning of Holy Quran in Sweden

The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran, by extremists in front of the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

On Saturday, January 21, Swedish right-wing leader Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Holy Quran, with the permission of the Swedish government.

Paludan set fire to the Holy Quran surrounded by the police with a lighter after a long sermon, which lasted about an hour, in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden.

Following the decision, Ankara summoned Sweden’s ambassador to it and informed him of its condemnation in the strongest terms.

GCC countries condemn

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and five other GCC countries— UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar have expressed their strong condemnation of such provocative actions against the feelings and sanctities of Muslims and the incitement to violence and hatred. 

The GCC countries foreign ministries affirmed their countries’ total rejection of all forms of hate speech based on belief, race or religion, and the involvement of sanctities in political disputes.

The ministries warned that the campaigns of hatred against Islam and the discourse of Islamophobia have witnessed a dangerous escalation with the continued systematic calls for the repeated targeting of Muslims in the world.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain’s foreign ministries called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to reject hatred, discrimination, incitement and violence and stressed the importance of upholding the principles of dialogue and mutual understanding.

The ministries renewed countries’ full support for the values ​​of tolerance and coexistence, and their keenness to establish the principles of international peace and security through dialogue and understanding.