Authorities of occupied Crimea banned importing of 6 000 copies of Muslim Holy Book — Qur’an, donated by Crimean Tatar Community of Turkey and social and charitable organisations of the cities of Konya and Karatay, “Press.Org” reports referring to “Crimean News”.

“On February 14 we sent 6 000 copies of Qur’an to Crimea in order to distribute them among local Muslims for free. RAMC was supposed to give those books to 6 000 Crimean Tatar families. The Holy Books reached customs office in Kerch port, where Russian officers banned the import and ordered to either ditch the books in the sea or take them back to Turkey,” Mr.Mustafa Sarykamysh, head of Crimean Tatar Community branch in the city of Seydisehir.

A number of books on religion are banned in Russia “in order to prevent religious extremism”, including ”Mesnevi” by Mevlana Rumi. Qur’an, however, wasn’t on the list.