Freedom of expression is an important value and it also applies to unpleasant opinions. This was stated today by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra, commenting on the actions of the activist who tore up the Koran in front of the national parliament building, the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation announced.

The leader of the Dutch anti-Islamic organization #PEGIDA, Edwin Wagensveld, has torn out pages of the #Quran right in front of the police in The Hague.

Another brave act, testing the limits of free speech against a hostile religion. pic.twitter.com/YdFNalDXaf

— TVisCOOL! 📺 www.tviscool.com (@TVisCOOLUK) January 23, 2023

The minister stressed that he understands the provocative and offensive side of such actions. However, according to him, freedom of expression is an important value. - That freedom also applies to inappropriate opinions, Hoekstra said.

On January 22, the leader of the anti-Islamic movement "Pegida" Edwin Wagensveld organized a rally in front of the parliament, where he tore up the Koran. He described his action as freedom of expression that should be allowed in the country.

The action went largely unnoticed in the Netherlands, but news of the act quickly spread on social media in Turkey.

The ambassador of the Netherlands in Turkey was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara today, where he was protested regarding the tearing of the copy of the Koran at the protest in The Hague.

Turkey has postponed a trilateral meeting with Sweden and Finland scheduled for February after weekend protests in Stockholm in which the Koran was burned, drawing condemnation from Ankara, state broadcaster TRT reported today.

Erdogan said yesterday that Sweden should not expect support from Turkey for joining NATO after protests near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm where copies of Islam's holy book were burned.

Last year, Sweden and Finland applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they need support from all members, including Turkey.

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