Western countries are trying to destroy Turkey’s tourism industry, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, after the country announced 51.5 million tourists and tens of billions in tourism revenue following the pandemic.
Soylu says the consulate closures and travel warnings are part of a Western conspiracy to prevent Turkey’s tourism sector from rebounding (AP Archive).
Turkey has accused a group of Western countries of temporarily closing their consulates in the city of Istanbul over security concerns, accusing them of waging “psychological warfare” and trying to destroy Turkey’s tourism industry.
Germany, the Netherlands and Britain were among the countries that closed their consulates in the city of 16 million this week.
The German Embassy has said that there is a risk of revenge attacks after the Koran burning incidents in some European countries.
The US and other countries have issued travel warnings urging citizens to be vigilant.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the consulate closures and travel warnings were part of a Western conspiracy to prevent Turkey’s tourism sector from rebounding following the coronavirus pandemic.
“On the day we announced our goal of (attracting) 60 million tourists, 51.5 million tourists arrived and we received $46 billion in tourism revenue, they are on the verge of starting a new psychological war (against),” Soylu said.
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Quran burning permits
Last weekend, the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning to European countries due to anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic demonstrations.
The warning came after demonstrations outside the Turkish embassy in Sweden earlier in the week, where an anti-Islam activist burned a Koran.
In a related development, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Friday that Norway revoked a permit for a group to hold a protest in Oslo over a possible attack on the Koran.
Earlier, Türkiye summoned Norway’s ambassador and told the ambassador that the planned action would constitute an impermissible “hate crime”.
A group called Stop Islamization of Norway plans to burn a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Oslo, according to Norwegian newspaper VG.
The group’s leader, Lars Thorsen, told VG that he plans to hold his protest “against Turkey’s intolerance of Western values of freedom.”
Recent demonstrations in Europe where activists have desecrated Islam’s holy book have angered Muslims in Turkey and elsewhere.
Jewish organizations in Denmark, Sweden and Norway issued a statement expressing concern about the manifestation of “Islamophobic hatred” in the Nordic region.
“Once again, racists and extremists have been allowed to abuse democracy and freedom of speech to normalize hatred against one of the religious minorities by burning the Koran,” they said.
Also read: Turkey won’t let Sweden into NATO unless attacks on Koran stop: Erdogan
Source: AP
