Austria will expel several foreign-funded imams and shut seven mosques in effort to stem “political Islam”, this was disclosed to by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Kurz said the moves came after an investigation by the religious affairs authority into images which emerged earlier this year of children in Turkish-backed mosques playing dead and reenacting the World War I battle of Gallipoli. Out of Austria's 260 imams, 60 are being investigated -- and 40 belong to ATIB, Kurz said.
“Parallel societies, political Islam and radicalisation have no place in our country,” Kurz said.
Turkish presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin tweeted
The photos, published by the Falter weekly, showed the young boys in camouflage uniforms marching, saluting, waving Turkish flags and then playing dead.
Their “corpses” were then lined up and draped in the flags.
The mosque in question was run by the Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations (ATIB) organisation, based in the German city of Cologne, and a branch of Turkey’s religious affairs agency Diyanet.
ATIB itself condemned the photos at the time, calling the event “highly regrettable”.
Kurz said the moves came after an investigation by the religious affairs authority into images which emerged earlier this year of children in Turkish-backed mosques playing dead and reenacting the World War I battle of Gallipoli. Out of Austria's 260 imams, 60 are being investigated -- and 40 belong to ATIB, Kurz said.
“Parallel societies, political Islam and radicalisation have no place in our country,” Kurz said.
Turkish presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin tweeted
1/Austria’s decision to close seven mosques and expel imams is a reflection of the Islamophobic, racist and discriminatory wave in this country. It is an attempt to target Muslim communities for the sake of scoring cheap political points.— Ibrahim Kalin (@ikalin1) June 8, 2018
The photos, published by the Falter weekly, showed the young boys in camouflage uniforms marching, saluting, waving Turkish flags and then playing dead.
Their “corpses” were then lined up and draped in the flags.
The mosque in question was run by the Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations (ATIB) organisation, based in the German city of Cologne, and a branch of Turkey’s religious affairs agency Diyanet.
ATIB itself condemned the photos at the time, calling the event “highly regrettable”.
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