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Ankara’s condemnation stemmed from the desecration of the Koran by the Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN) organization. The Turkish Embassy in Oslo said on its Facebook page that it hopes that the Norwegian authorities will take the necessary measures and precautions to ensure that such acts do not happen again.
Siv Jensen retaliated by stressing that freedom of expression is enshrined in the Norwegian constitution and hopes that the government will get the message across to the Turkish authorities. (Read: Turkey urges Europe to respond seriously to the desecration of the Koran in Sweden and Norway)
“We will not allow totalitarian forces or other countries to limit the constitutional freedom of expression that we have in Norway. Let me say that burning the Koran in Norway is legal. It should still be, “Jensen told the newspaper. Dagsavisen,quoted on Tuesday (1/9/2020).
“I distance myself from burning the Koran, in the same way that I distance myself from burning the Norwegian flag or the Bible. We still have to defend that in our society, because it is part of freedom of expression,” said the leader of the Progress Party, noting that his party was also stay away from SIAN.
On Saturday, SIAN’s Fanny Bråten, who had previously been charged and later acquitted of hate speech charges, announced at a public meeting that she would desecrate the Koran. She then tore up a copy of the Quran, spat on the pages and insulted Prophet Muhammad. Her action provoked the ire of local Muslims and riots broke out. (Read: Rasmus Paludan, mastermind of an anti-Islamic politician burning the Koran in Sweden)
Following the riots, the police arrested 29 people. Some of the detainees are minors. The protests in Norway followed a similar incident in the city of Malmö, Sweden, where riots broke out after members of the Danish hardline anti-Islamic party burned copies of the Quran.
SIAN’s demonstration was criticized by Norwegian Culture Minister Abid Raja, a devout Muslim, who called for a boycott of the organization. The minister stressed that the counter-demonstrations were increasingly empowering him.
Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN) has existed since the early 2000s. As an organization, it works to counter the development of Islam, which is seen as a totalitarian political ideology that violates the Norwegian constitution and the country’s democratic and humanitarian values.
His actions have often featured protests, awareness campaigns and, at the very least, the burning of the Quran, which he sees as a celebration of freedom of expression. These actions were very similar to those of the Hardline Party in Denmark.
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