Türkiye Urges Denmark to Take Urgent Action to Prevent Quran Burnings

 Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his South Korean counterpart in Ankara on July 29, 2023. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his South Korean counterpart in Ankara on July 29, 2023. (AFP)
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Türkiye Urges Denmark to Take Urgent Action to Prevent Quran Burnings

 Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his South Korean counterpart in Ankara on July 29, 2023. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his South Korean counterpart in Ankara on July 29, 2023. (AFP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday urged Denmark to take urgent action to prevent burnings of the holy Quran, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

In a phone call with his Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Fidan condemned the "continuous vile attacks against the Quran".

He told Rasmussen it was unacceptable to allow such actions under the guise of freedom of expression, the source said.

Rasmussen on Saturday wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter: " Türkiye and Denmark are close allies. Important to not let these acts succeed in creating division."

He also reiterated Denmark's "strong condemnation of these provocative acts by few individuals."

The comments came after a small group of anti-Islam activists set fire to Qurans in front of the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in Copenhagen on Tuesday, after similar protests in Denmark and Sweden over recent weeks.

Denmark and Sweden have deplored the burning of Islam's holy book but say they cannot prevent it under rules protecting free speech.



Panama Leaders Past and Present Reject Trump’s Threat of Canal Takeover

The Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal is pictured in Panama City on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
The Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal is pictured in Panama City on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Panama Leaders Past and Present Reject Trump’s Threat of Canal Takeover

The Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal is pictured in Panama City on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
The Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal is pictured in Panama City on December 23, 2024. (AFP)

The status of the Panama Canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the country, after Donald Trump's recent threats to reclaim the man-made waterway.

The US president-elect on Saturday had slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.

Mulino dismissed Trump's comments Sunday, saying "every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama".

He reiterated Monday in a statement -- also signed by former presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Martin Torrijos and Mireya Moscoso -- that "the sovereignty of our country and our canal are not negotiable."

The canal "is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest," read the statement, which the four politicians had signed after a meeting at the seat of the Panamanian government.

"Panamanians may think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our canal and our sovereignty, we all unite under the same flag."

Former leader Laurentino Cortizo, who did not attend the meeting, also showed support for the statement on social media, as did ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) Panama Canal carries five percent of the world's maritime trade. Its main users are the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Chile.

It was completed by the United States in 1914, and then returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.

Panama took full control in 1999.