Doha - Media & Communication Dept. - January 21

The State of Qatar condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the Swedish authorities' permission to burn a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. It also emphasizes that this vile incident is an act of incitement and a serious provocation to the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms the State of Qatar's total rejection of all forms of hate speech based on religion or race in addition to rejecting the involvement of sanctities in political disputes. The Ministry warns 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. In this context, the Ministry calls on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to reject hatred, discrimination, incitement and violence, and stresses the importance of upholding the principles of dialogue and mutual understanding.

The Ministry reiterates Qatar's full support for the values of tolerance and coexistence, and its keenness to establish the principles of international peace and security through dialogue and understanding.