Erdogan slams Sweden Over Quran Burning: Impact on NATO Membership

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday angrily condemned Sweden for allowing a protester to burn pages from a copy of the Quran, further clouding the Nordic nation’s chances of quickly joining NATO.

“We will eventually teach the arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said in televised remarks, adding that he condemned the incident “in the strongest possible terms.”

A man carried out the protest outside Stockholm’s main mosque after Swedish police granted a permit for the protest, which coincided with the start of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.

Turkey’s foreign minister also condemned the burning of several pages from the Quran in Sweden on Wednesday as “vile” and “despicable.”

“I curse the despicable act committed against our Holy Book, the Holy Quran, on the first day of Eid al-Adha,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Twitter.