Pakistan joined several Muslim countries in condemning the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden on Saturday. It stressed that the international community needed to show a common resolve against Islamophobia.

“This senseless and provocative Islamophobic act hurts the religious sensitivities of over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The desecration of the Quran was carried out by Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line. Paludan, who also has Swedish citizenship, has held a number of demonstrations in the past where he has burned the Koran, Reuters reported.

Paludan could not immediately be reached by email for a comment by the news agency. In the permit he obtained from police, it says his protest was held against Islam and what it called Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s attempt to influence freedom of expression in Sweden.

The FO added that such actions were not covered under any legitimate expression of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, which carries responsibilities under international human rights law, such as the obligation not to carry out hate speech and incite people to violence.

“Islam is a religion of peace and Muslims, including in Pakistan, believe in respecting all religions. These principles must be supported by all,” it said.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that Islamophobic provocations were appalling.

“Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed,” Billstrom said on Twitter.

Several Muslim states including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Kuwait denounced the act. “Saudi Arabia calls for spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance, and coexistence, and rejects hatred and extremism,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book … Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable,” the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Its statement was issued after an anti-immigrant politician from the far-right fringe burned a copy of the Quran near the Turkish Embassy. The Turkish ministry urged Sweden to take necessary actions against the perpetrators and invited all countries to take concrete steps against Islamophobia.

In Istanbul, people in a group of around 200 protesters set fire to a Swedish flag in front of the Swedish consulate in response to the burning of the Quran.

Qatar’s foreign ministry warned that hate campaigns against Islam and the discourse of Islamophobia witnessed a “dangerous escalation” through the continued systematic calls for repeated targeting of Muslims in the world.

A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden’s bid to join NATO. A group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had police permits.

Pakistan was of the view that the international community needed to show a common resolve against Islamophobia, xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis of religion or belief, and work together for promoting inter-faith harmony and peaceful coexistence.

The country said that it has shared its concerns with the Swedish authorities. “We urge them to be mindful of the sentiments of the people of Pakistan and the Muslims worldwide and take steps to prevent Islamophobic acts,” it added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the incident as “unacceptable”. In a tweet, he said that the “garb of freedom of expression could not be used to hurt the religious emotions of 1.5 billion Muslims across the world.

“No words are enough to adequately condemn the abhorrable act of desecration of the Holy Quran by a right-wing extremist in Sweden,” PM Shehbaz said.

‘Sympathy for all Muslims’

Reacting to the incident, Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson said that burning books that were holy to many was a deeply disrespectful act. In a tweet, he expressed his sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate,” he said.

Turkey cancels Swedish minister’s visit

Earlier on Saturday, Turkey said that due to lack of measures to restrict protests, it had cancelled a planned visit to Ankara by the Swedish defence minister.

Jonson said separately that he and Akar had met on Friday during a gathering of Western allies in Germany and had decided to postpone the planned meeting.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said he had discussed with Erdogan the lack of measures to restrict protests in Sweden against Turkey and had conveyed Ankara’s reaction to Jonson on the sidelines of a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

“It is unacceptable not to make a move or react to these (protests). The necessary things needed to be done, measures should have been taken,” Akar said, according to a statement by Turkish Defence Ministry.

Turkey’s foreign ministry had already summoned Sweden’s ambassador on Friday over the planned protests. Finland and Sweden signed a three-way agreement with Turkey in 2022 aimed at overcoming Ankara’s objections to their membership of NATO.

Sweden says it has fulfilled its part of the memorandum but Turkey is demanding more, including the extradition of 130 people it deems to be terrorists.