Closure of mosques draws ire

AUSTRIA’S main federation of Muslim residents (IGGiOe) on Sunday voiced its “indignation” after Vienna announced the closure of seven mosques and said it would expel Turkishfunded imams.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had on Saturday criticised the move as anti-Islamic and promised a response and the Muslim federation launched a broadside.

Vienna wants to “discredit the religious community”, the group’s president, Ibrahim Olgun, said. Olgun said the policy was not “appropriate to control political Islam” and “will lead to a weakening of structures within the Muslim community in Austria”.

The Austrian government has not produced any “objective justification” for the closures, four of which apply to mosques in Vienna, he said.

Olgun also criticised the government for not informing the federation in advance and for unveiling the move on the final Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

“Solutions should be worked out together around a table rather than unilaterally on the backs of the Muslim minority,” said IGGiOe.

Vienna announced on Friday it will close the seven mosques, saying they breached 2015 guidelines requiring “a positive attitude towards the state and society”. Several imams have been accused of preaching radical Islam.