In response to the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran by an extremist in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, the chairman of the Federation of Cooperative Societies, Abdul Wahhab Al-Faris, said that the federation and all cooperative societies under its umbrella “condemn and denounce these despicable and heinous acts by one of the religious and intellectual extremists”.
In a statement, Al-Faris said that in response to the incident and the attack on their holiest sanctities, the Federation of Cooperative Societies has issued a circular to the boards of directors of all cooperative societies to cut down on approvals issued for all Swedish products, which reached to about 259 products from 23 companies. This is so that the associations can take the necessary measures regarding them, Aljarida daily reported.
Moreover, some cooperative societies in the country, including Granada, Al-Khalidiyah, and Hadiya, have begun boycotting Swedish products. They have announced a comprehensive campaign to boycott goods from Sweden, and have stressed that they will not tolerate any disrespect for their Islamic sanctities.