The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors of 9 countries.
Following the decision of some Western countries to temporarily close their consulates in Istanbul due to security concerns, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors of 9 countries.
Meanwhile, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suleyman Soylu, on Friday, February 2nd, called the closure of consulates of European and American countries in Istanbul a psychological warfare against Turkey’s tourism industry. He stated that Turkey earned $46 billion in revenue in 2022 by attracting 51 million foreign tourists, and this year it aims to attract 60 million tourists. He also mentioned that Western countries are trying to undermine Turkey’s tourism industry.
In recent days, several far-right activists in some European countries set fire to the Quran in front of Turkish embassies. Eight European countries, along with the United States, expressed concern about the possibility of retaliatory attacks and announced the temporary closure of their consulates in Istanbul.
There were plans to burn copies of the Quran in Oslo, the capital of Norway, on Saturday. However, the police in this country announced that they have canceled this gathering for security reasons.