Turkey condemns 'attacks' against Quran in Netherlands

ANKARA: Turkey condemned the "provocative attacks" on the Quran outside embassies of Muslim countries, including the Turkish embassy, in the Netherlands, the country's Foreign Ministry said.

"We condemn the spread of these provocative attacks, which aim to humiliate our religion and its believers, in European countries where they are tolerated, and these acts of hatred are allowed under the guise of freedom of expression," the Ministry said on Saturday in a statement.

Effective measures must now be taken by the countries, where the "attacks" take place, against these provocations, which are recognised by the United Nations as religious hatred and a violation of international law, the statement added.

The Ministry called on the Dutch authorities to take necessary action against the perpetrator of the incident and to take precautions to prevent these incidents from recurring, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Turkey will continue its fight against this sick and hate-based mentality with determination on every platform," it said.

Edwin Wagensveld, leader of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA), tore Islam's holy book Quran in the Netherlands on Saturday, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

In his protests throughout the day in the city of The Hague, Wagensveld tore the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy as well as the embassies of Pakistan and Indonesia, according to Anadolu.

He had previously been involved in several demonstrations of tearing the Quran, the agency said.