Türkiye slams West for security warnings 'harming' tourism

Türkiye has slammed a group of Western countries that temporarily closed down their consulates in the city of Istanbul over security concerns, accusing them of waging “psychological warfare” and attempting to wreck Türkiye's tourism industry.

Germany, the Netherlands and Britain were among countries that shut down their consulates in the city of around 16 million people this week. 

The German Embassy cited the risk of possible retaliatory attacks following Quran-burning incidents in some European countries.

The United States and other countries issued travel warnings urging citizens to exercise vigilance.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the consulate closures and travel warnings were part of a Western plot to prevent a rebound in Türkiye’s tourism sector following the coronavirus pandemic.

“On a day when we declared our aim of (attracting) 60 million tourists, at a time when 51.5 million tourists arrived and we obtained $46 billion in tourism revenue, they were on the verge of starting a new psychological warfare (against) Türkiye,” said Soylu. 

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Quran-burning permissions

Last weekend, Türkiye's foreign ministry issued a travel warning for European countries due to anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic demonstrations. 

The warning followed demonstrations the week before outside the Turkish Embassy in Sweden, where an anti-Islam activist burned the Quran. 

In a related development, Norway revoked a group's permission to stage a protest in Oslo on Friday that would have involved an attack on the Quran, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters.

Earlier, Türkiye summoned Norway's ambassador and told the envoy that the planned action would constitute a “hate crime” that should not be allowed.

Norwegian newspaper VG said a group called Stop Islamization of Norway planned to burn the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Oslo.

The group’s leader, Lars Thorsen, told VG that he planned to carry out his protest “in the context of Türkiye's intolerance of Western values of freedom".

Recent demonstrations in Europe where activists desecrated Islam's holy book have infuriated Muslims in Türkiye and elsewhere.

Jewish organisations in Denmark, Sweden and Norway issued a statement expressing concern about what they called the manifestation of “Islamophobic hate” in the Nordic region.

“Once again, racists and extremists are allowed to abuse democracy and freedom of speech in order to normalise hate against one of the religious minorities by burning the Quran,” they said. 

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