Ashraf AboArafe
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zaid, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that, at the direction of Mr. Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yasser Hashem, Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Northern and Central European Affairs, summoned this morning, July 27, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish ambassador in Cairo, where she was informed of her displeasure. And Egypt’s strong condemnation and total rejection, at all official and popular levels, of the incidents of burning the Noble Qur’an that took place recently in front of the headquarters of foreign diplomatic missions in Denmark, including the Egyptian Embassy in Copenhagen on July 25, within the framework of the claim of a desire to convey the message of defending freedom of expression by continuing to demonstrate in front of Embassies of Arab and Islamic countries in Denmark.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that the Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs reaffirmed Egypt’s position calling for the relevant authorities in Denmark and other countries that witnessed similar events to take concrete measures to stop such unfortunate incidents once and for all, in line with the Danish and other governments’ condemnation of the burning of the Holy Quran. And any sacred religious texts or symbols as an outrageous act that does not respect the religions of others and leads to inflaming feelings between members of different religions and cultures.
Ambassador Hashem stressed that the continued recurrence of these unfortunate events, which have nothing to do with freedom of expression, constitutes a clear violation of freedom of belief and religious practices of all kinds, and contradicts international conventions for its support for extremist and hate speeches, Islamophobia and contempt for religions, and categorically contradicts efforts to promote civilized communication. And religious among the peoples of the world of different religions, beliefs and cultures, and in the manner that Egypt has always been and continues to warn of its reprehensible repercussions.
