Turkey summons Danish ambassador over anti-Islam protests

ANKARA: Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned Danish Ambassador Danny Annan over "an attack targeting Quran and Turkish flag" at a public demonstration in Denmark.

The ministry said in a written statement that it strongly condemned and protested the "heinous act committed under the guise of freedom of expression", which is "unacceptable".

The statement came after Turkish media reported that members of the Danish far-right group The Patriots Go Live displayed Islamophobic banners and chanted anti-Islam slogans in front of the Turkish Embassy in Denmark's capital of Copenhagen earlier on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The protest was live broadcasted on the group's Facebook page, local TV network CNN Turk reported.

"It is seen that the inadequacy of legal and administrative measures and the lack of political will to prevent such acts as well as impunity of perpetrators have encouraged further provocations," the ministry said in the statement, speaking of the recurrence of anti-Islam demonstrations in Denmark lately.

It urged Danish authorities to take necessary actions against the perpetrators of this act and to take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such "provocations", according to the statement.

Earlier, Turkey had summoned the Danish ambassador to denounce "the desecration of the Quran and the Turkish flag" over a public protest staged in Copenhagen on March 24.