"We strongly condemn the disrespect for our holy book, the Holy Quran, in a demonstration organized by an anti-Islamic organization on 16 November 2019 in Kristiansand, Norway. We expect that such actions to be prevented and those who are responsible to be brought to justice as soon as possible, "the Foreign Ministry said in an official statement.

"We are deeply concerned about the recent rise of discrimination against Muslims, hatred against Islam and attacks on mosques in Western European countries," the Ministry added.

Warning that Islamophobia and xenophobia becoming ever more alarming recently and an issue that needs to be tackled immediately, the statement said: "Racist and extreme right rhetoric, social media messages shared by certain politicians are inciting these tendencies and constitute the ideological infrastructure of these kind of insulting attacks against our religion."

Emphasizing that these attacks are not only aimed at Muslims, but also pose a threat to all humanity, the statement said:" On this occasion, we repeat our call to the international community to work together to completely remove this virus that threatens the entire world."

"It is important that the UN resolution on 'Combating terrorism and other acts of violence based on religion or belief' is implemented by all member countries. Turkey will continue to lead the international efforts in this direction," it concluded.

ILKHA