Protest against Koran burning in Denmark

Iraqis protest against the burning of the Koran in Baghdad, June 30, 2023

On July 22, hundreds of protesters in Iraq attempted to storm the heavily guarded Green Zone in the capital Baghdad, where government agencies and many foreign embassies are located, after a far-right group in Denmark posted a video of burning the Koran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in the capital Copenhagen.

Security forces dispersed protesters blocking the Jumhuriya bridge leading to the Green Zone, preventing them from reaching the Danish Embassy.

Meanwhile, in the center of the capital Baghdad, protesters gathered in Tahrir Square.

A day earlier, the far-right group Danske Patrioter posted a video showing a man burning what appeared to be a Koran and stepping on the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi Embassy in the capital Copenhagen.

In a statement, Copenhagen Deputy Police Chief Trine Fisker said only a small number of protesters gathered in front of the Iraqi Embassy on June 21 and the area was "quite peaceful".

She confirmed that "a book was burned, but it is not yet clear what book it is."

On July 22, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned the act of "desecration of the Koran and the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark".

On July 20, in Baghdad, hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy to protest the burning of the Koran in Stockholm.

A few weeks earlier, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden, burned the Koran in front of the largest mosque in the capital Stockholm on June 28, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The governments of several Muslim countries, including Iraq, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan and Morocco, have protested the incident.

Two large protests took place outside the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad following the Koran burning.

According to VNA