ALI GUNES

Does the Freedom of Expression allow us to desecrate what is sacred to other people? ali gunes gunesali1@gmail.com Similar to the previous burning of the Muslim Holy Book Qur’an carried out by Rasmus Paludan a short while ago, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee, burned and insulted the Qur’an during the recent Muslim feast of sacrifice or Eid-al-Adha in front of Stockholm Central Mosque, Sweden, under the police surveillance. Initially, the Swedish government defended the incident under the guise of freedom of expression and thought. Yet, this incident took severe criticism from almost every part of the world – Muslims and non-Muslims. The harshest criticism has come from Turkey, which continues to blockade Sweden’s NATO entry application because Sweden, Turkiye claims, not only overtly supports and accommodates PKK terrorists but also uses them against Turkey for its smear campaign of human rights abuse. For example, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticised Sweden for allowing...