Hours after the Turkish foreign ministry summoned Norway’s ambassador to complain, Norwegian police on Thursday February 2, banned a planned anti-Islam protest that included burning a copy of the Koran this week.
According to police, a group of demonstrators intended to burn a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Oslo on Friday February 3, imitating similar protests that took place in Sweden and Denmark last month.
“Burning the Koran remains a legal way to express political views in Norway. But this event cannot be carried out for security reasons,” Oslo police said in a statement.
According to a source in the Turkish foreign ministry, Ankara strongly condemned the anti-Islam group’s plans earlier on Thursday, calling them a “provocative act”, adding that the ministry had asked for the demonstration to be called off.
The planned protest was brought up in a meeting by Turkey, according to Norway’s foreign ministry.
“Our ambassador referred to the constitutional right to freedom of expression in Norway, and added that the Norwegian government neither supports nor is involved with the planned demonstration,” said a ministry spokesperson.
A demonstration can only be stopped by the police if there is a risk to the general public.
An anti-immigrant Danish-Swedish politician from the far-right fringe staged a protest last month near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm that included burning a copy of the Koran, drawing strong condemnation from Ankara.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year. However, Turkey unexpectedly objected, and they have since worked to win Turkey’s support.
Sweden announced on Thursday that it would tighten the laws governing affiliation with terrorist groups.
Author-Roberta Appiah
