ISLAMABAD
\nPolice in Finland has said the public burning copies of Islam\u2019s holy book, the Quran, would not be allowed in the country, local media reported.
\nThe National Police Board said burning a copy of the Quran would likely violate religious peace, which is a punishable offence in Finland, said media reports, citing the Finnish News Agency STT.
\nThe public burning or other desecration of a book held sacred by a religious community would be met with police intervention, added the police.
\nIn response to a question from Anadolu Agency on whether they would adopt a similar approach, the Swedish Foreign Ministry reiterated its position on burning a copy of the Quran in the name of freedom of expression.
\n\u201cThe government understands those who are offended by actions such as the burning of holy scriptures,\u201d the ministry noted, adding \u201cnot everything that is legal is necessarily appropriate.\u201d
\nDanish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) Party, burned a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Denmark on Friday.
\nThe anti-Muslim act came days after the far-right leader burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Sweden during a police-approved incident.
\nPaludan also announced that he would burn a copy of the Islamic holy book every Friday until Sweden is included in the NATO alliance.
\nMeanwhile Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday T\u00fcrkiye may show a different approach to Finland\u2019s NATO bid than Sweden.
\n\u201cIf NATO and these countries (Finland and Sweden) take such a decision, we, as T\u00fcrkiye, think that we may evaluate the applications separately, but first of all, NATO and these countries have to decide,\u201d Cavusoglu told a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho in the capital Ankara.
\n\u201cI think it would be fair to distinguish between a problematic country and a less problematic country,\u201d he added.
\nCavusoglu said his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and he made an assessment during a phone talk after T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s Sunday remarks on Ankara\u2019s attitude towards Finland\u2019s NATO bid.
\nSweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last May, a decision spurred by Russia\u2019s military action against Ukraine, which started on February 24, 2022.
\nBut T\u00fcrkiye (a NATO member for more than 70 years) voiced objections, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups. Under a memorandum signed last June between T\u00fcrkiye, Sweden, and Finland, the two Nordic countries, pledged to take steps against terrorists in order to gain membership in the NATO alliance.
\nUnanimous agreement from all NATO members, including T\u00fcrkiye, is needed for any new members to be admitted to the alliance.
\nT\u00fcrkiye says the countries, particularly Sweden, need to do more, especially in the wake of provocative terrorist demonstrations and burning of copies of the holy Quran in Stockholm.
\nIn the deal, Sweden and Finland agreed not to provide support to terrorist groups such as the PKK and its offshoots, and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in T\u00fcrkiye, and extradite terror suspects to T\u00fcrkiye, among other things.
\nCavusoglu said both the Nordic countries, NATO and some allied countries want the membership process of the two countries to progress together, and which is why the tripartite agreement was signed.
\nTalking of Finland, he said positive statements have been made along with practical developments regarding restrictions on exports of defense industry products to T\u00fcrkiye, but there were no provocations.
\n\u201cThere are radical groups there, too, with different ideologies, apart from the supporters of PKK terrorist organisation who want to prevent Finland\u2019s membership,\u201d he said.
\nReiterating Ankara\u2019s commitment to NATO\u2019s enlargement, he said: \u201cWe have no problems with Finland and Sweden, and understand their security concern, it is legitimate.\u201d
\nHe said two main threats are mentioned in NATO documents.
\n\u201cOne of them is Russia, and we understand that they are worried about it. The other is terrorism and therefore, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s concerns should not only be understood but also met. That\u2019s why we signed the tripartite memorandum,\u201d the top Turkish diplomat reiterated.
\nPointing out that some steps have been taken in Sweden to address Ankara\u2019s concerns, Cavusoglu said: \u201cBut in concrete terms, unfortunately, there are backsteps due to the provocations of groups that want to prevent Sweden\u2019s NATO membership.
\n\u201cSweden is still allowing terrorist groups including the PKK and FETO to recruit people and use legal bank accounts for illegal funding, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Police in Finland has said the public burning copies of Islam\u2019s holy book, the Quran, would not be allowed in the country, local media reported. The National Police Board said burning a copy of the Quran would likely violate religious peace, which is a punishable offence in Finland, said media reports, citing the Finnish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-310951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n