Sweden: Swedish police have said they will allow the leader of an extreme-right political party to burn a copy of the Koran near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, prompting Ankara to summon its Swedish envoy in response to the "provocative act".

Rasmus Paludan, a Danish-Swedish lawyer who leads Denmark's right-wing 'Stram Kurs' (Hard Line) party, will be allowed to burn an Islamic holy book during a rally outside the Turkish embassy on 21 January.

Swedish police spokeswoman Ola Österling said, "Sweden's constitutional laws provide strong protections, and you must decide that the value of being able to express yourself freely is of the utmost importance."

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The planned act is "clearly a hate crime," according to unnamed diplomatic sources cited by Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency. The foreign ministry reportedly summoned Swedish ambassador to Turkey Staffan Herrström on Friday to discuss it.

Sweden's attitude is unacceptable. We hope that this act will not be tolerated and insult to revered ideals cannot be justified in the name of "democratic rights".

At the embassy rally, Paludan, who has performed several Quran burnings in the past, said he intended to "take a small stand for freedom of expression against Turkey". In several Swedish cities, a similar protest last year led to riots and street fighting, injuring hundreds of police officers as well as several protesters.

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Saturday's protest will follow another demonstration, which was organized by Kurdish activists earlier this week in Stockholm, where they hoisted a life-size cutout of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a harsh response to the incident, Ankara labeled Sweden a "propaganda center" for terrorism, reiterating earlier claims that the administration aided armed Kurdish groups operating in Turkey.

As Sweden and Finland seek permission from Turkey to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which requires unanimous consent from all members before inviting new states to join, disagreements over the planned book burning have come to light .

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Talks have stalled as a result of demands by Ankara that NATO take additional action against interested entities and those they consider terrorists, despite there appearing to be little progress on the issue after two Nordic states submitted membership applications last year. There was progress.