Diplomats have their hands full due to Quran tearing in The Hague

• John Jonker

  political reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is busy with the consequences of a protest in The Hague in which pages were torn from a Koran. There is an outrage in Islamic countries. The consulate-general in Istanbul has now even been closed to the public due to the threat of an attack, according to the travel advice from the department which has been updated today.

In addition, Dutch ambassadors in three countries have now been summoned, the ministry says in response to questions from NOS. It was already known that the ambassador summoned to Turkey because of the protest action in the Netherlands, but that also happened in Pakistan and Indonesia, as it now appears. However, those countries themselves have not publicized this.

Just over a week ago, Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the anti-Islam movement Pegida, tore up a Quran in The Hague. Since then, protests against the Netherlands have been heard in several Islamic countries. This is partly fueled because a Koran was burned by a politician in Sweden. There have been protests in several countries wherever Dutch flags are burned.

The travel advice of Foreign Affairs has been adjusted for several countries after the Koran tearing. For example, the travel advice for Afghanistan states that attacks against Dutch aid organizations are being threatened there. Tanzania’s travel advice has also been adjusted, which states, among other things: “There is an increased terrorist threat for places where many Western visitors come”. In Egypt, a university also called for a boycott of Dutch products.

Minister Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs has previously said that he understands that the action can be experienced as provocative and offensive, but called freedom of expression a great asset. “And that freedom also applies to an unwelcome opinion.”