Paphos mayor worried about protest against Quran burning

A group of protesters in Paphos marched on Sunday against the burning of the Quran in an incident in Sweden last week, prompting the town’s mayor to express concern over “religious fanaticism” creeping into Cypriot society.

Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos is calling on state authorities to tackle “apparent religious fanaticism” following a demonstration in his town on Sunday against the burning of the Quran.

Protesters walked down Poseidon Avenue in Kato Paphos on Sunday, days after after a man in Stockholm tore up and burned a copy of the Quran outside the Swedish capital’s central mosque on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holidays.

“The march of young Muslims today in the tourist district of Paphos with Quran in hand, with apparent religious fanaticism, should concern the government and our state and basically everyone about actions that need to take place,” Phedonos wrote on Facebook.

The mayor’s post, which included a video, drew hundreds of comments mostly criticizing the protesters and alluding to religious differences and fanaticism.

“I don’t recall ever we, as Christians, provoking them, why are they provoking?” asked one commenter.

Others called the march “unacceptable” and wondered how the protesters, understood to be foreign nationals, came to “have the audacity to walk into our streets with such religious activism.”

Phedonos later told state radio on Tuesday that he was concerned about religious wars breaking out in his town, while also raising demographic issues in many areas and school districts.

“There are written signs in some places and then you see [Christian] crosses painted over,” Phedonos said.

The incident in Sweden took place a week before a NATO summit was scheduled to take place.

Earlier this year Turkey had suspended talks with Sweden on its NATO application after a Danish far-right politician also burned another copy of the Quran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.