As the world leaves behind a year marked by hate speech and xenophobia, Türkiye is aiming to maintain bilateral relations and multidimensionality in its diplomacy to combat the rise in Islamophobia in the new year, as well.
According to Turkish diplomatic sources, while incidents involving the burning of the Quran occurred 15 times in Europe in 2022, the Turkish Foreign Ministry detected 507 attacks against the Muslim holy book in Western Europe in 2023.
Denmark ranked first with 447 attacks against Islam’s holy book.
Mosques were targeted 34 times in Europe in 2022, which only increased to 68 in 2023, exposing the grave level of Islamophobia in the continent.
Germany recorded the highest number of mosque attacks with 52 incidents.
Türkiye has taken diplomatic initiatives to initiate criminal proceedings against the perpetrators and provides legal support to Turkish citizens facing similar attacks.
While officials explained to decision-makers and the public in countries where the attacks took place that the offenses have nothing to do with freedom of thought, diplomatic efforts are being made to criminalize Islamophobic actions and find a permanent solution.
As a result of Türkiye's initiatives, Denmark passed legislation on Dec. 7 that effectively criminalizes Quran-burning protests on the grounds of "inappropriate treatment of writings with significant importance for a recognized religious community."
Far-right Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm in January under police protection and with permission from Swedish authorities.
An arrest warrant was issued for Paludan, who has been arrested in absentia in Sweden.
Paludan has been investigated for "incitement against a group of people, insult and gross assault against an official."
Türkiye has also taken initiatives on multilateral platforms in 2023, leading efforts against Islamophobia with organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Council of Europe.
The U.N. adopted a resolution condemning Quran burning on July 12, defining attacks on the Quran as "religious hatred."
The U.N. General Assembly also adopted a resolution that deplores all acts of violence against holy books as a violation of international law on July 25.
The definition of attacks against the Quran as religious hatred and violation of international law constitutes an acquis for future steps to be taken.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim strongly condemned the recent burnings of the Quran in a joint statement issued Sept. 20 after a leaders' meeting in New York on the margins of the 78th U.N. General Assembly.
They also expressed concern over the emergence of a "new form of racism" characterized by xenophobia and negative profiling and stereotyping of Muslims.
The leaders condemned "in the strongest terms the recent incidents of the burning of copies of the holy Quran witnessed in several European countries under the guise of freedom of expression and populist discourse that incites abuse, hate speech and aggression against Islam and Muslims," it said.
Türkiye also has been making great efforts for OIC countries to adopt a common position.
As a result, the 18th Extraordinary Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC convened on July 31 and a joint statement was adopted at the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of OIC Member States on Sept. 21.
A special session focusing on the issue will be held at the third Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye to be held March 1-3, with experts from all over the world coming together.