Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative leader who governs in coalition with an anti-immigration party, on Friday announced the closure of seven mosques and the potential expulsion of 40 imams, in a crackdown on political Islam and foreign funding of Muslim communities.
The move follows a government investigation into alleged radical activities in mosques that was ordered after a series of revelations in the media about extremist preachers. In one incident, images published by a newspaper in April showed young boys in a mosque backed by the Turkish state marching in camouflage uniforms, saluting and waving Turkish flags and then playing dead in an apparent re-enactment of World War I battles.
“Parallel societies, political Islam and radicalization have no place in our country,” Mr. Kurz said at a press conference Friday. He added this was the first time the Austrian government was using laws passed in 2015 to tackle radical religious organizations.
While other European governments struggling with Islamic extremism occasionally close mosques they suspect of radicalization, it is unusual to see so many closed at once. The mosques and the imams targeted by the measures have violated Austria’s laws on religion and foreign funding, Mr. Kurz said.
Six Arab mosques and a Turkish prayer house in Vienna run by the ultranationalist Turkish group Grey Wolves will be immediately closed, while authorities are considering not extending the residence permits of more than 40 imams accused of preaching extremism and violating financing rules. The mosques didn’t immediately comment on the closures.
Two imams are already facing immediate deportation.
There are around 400 mosques in Austria, a country with a population of 8.7 million, an estimated 8% of which is Muslim. In total, 60 of the 260 imams registered in Austria are being investigated. Many belong to the Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations, or ATIB, which is run by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The move adds to recent tensions between Turkey and Europe, which has occasionally clashed with Mr. Erdogan over what many see as his autocratic style and other issues. In a tweet, Mr. Erdogan’s spokesman called the closures “a reflection of the Islamophobic, racist and discriminatory wave” in Austria.
“It is an attempt to target Muslim communities for the sake of scoring cheap political points,” Ibrahim Kalin said.
An Arabic cultural organization, which operated six of the mosques to be shut down, was dissolved by the government.
A government-sponsored study of 16 mosques in Vienna found last October that 38% of them were actively working against integration of Muslims.
Heinz-Christian Sprache, the vice chancellor and head of the anti-immigration populist Freedom Party, the junior coalition partner of Mr. Kurz’s conservative Austrian People’s Party, said the measures were aimed at enforcing the law’s requirements for “positive attitude” from religious organizations toward the state and society.
“This is only the beginning, but we are showing determination,” said Mr. Strache, who appeared alongside Mr. Kurz at the press conference. He added that some of the mosques had access to public funding.
Mr. Strache’s party has a long history of stirring controversy with anti-Islam campaigning. One of their slogans displayed on election posters in the past was “Home instead of Islam.”
In an interview earlier this year with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Kurz, who at 31 is one of the world’s youngest national leaders, spoke out against “misguided” tolerance of political Islam.
“We live a country in which freedom of religion has always been held in high regard and that needs to be protected, but misguided tolerance of political Islam is, I believe, wrong,” he said. “To me freedom of religion is as important as not allowing any form of political Islam or its ideas to spread here.”
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