Published: Just now
Several demonstrations are expected today in Stockholm with a connection to Turkey and Sweden’s NATO application. A large police operation is planned and large parts of central Stockholm are to be monitored with drones.
Koran-burner Rasmus Paludan has received permission from the Stockholm police to hold a public gathering near the Turkish embassy in the Diplomatic City in Stockholm at 1 p.m. There, according to his application, he plans to once again burn a copy of the Muslim holy book.
There he will be joined by the pro-Turkish organization Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), which has received permission for a demonstration in support of Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outside the embassy.
A few kilometers away, at Norra Bantorget, a long-planned demonstration march is also expected in protest against Erdogan and the Swedish NATO accession. It is organized by the Kurdish Democratic Community Center and the organization expects between 500 and 600 participants who will march to Medborgarplatsen on Södermalm.
Among the participants in the train are also the Rojava Committees, who last week hung a doll representing Erdogan upside down outside the City Hall in Stockholm. The incident drew Turkey’s anger and created debate in Sweden.
The group compared Erdogan to Italian dictator and fascist Benito Mussolini, who was executed and hanged upside down in 1945.
On Friday, Turkey summoned Sweden’s ambassador to the country. According to sources for the Reuters news agency, Turkey issued a “strong condemnation” of Paludan’s planned Koran burning and demanded that the permit be withdrawn.
According to Reuters sources, Turkey also called the pro-Kurdish demonstration a “crime” against the agreement the country has with Sweden before joining NATO.