Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned that Austria’s decision to close several mosques will lead the world towards another crusade.
Calling to Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz, Erdoğan stated:
These measures taken by the Austrian prime minister are, I fear, leading the world towards a war between the cross and the crescent. […] They say they’re going to kick our religious men out of Austria. Do you think we will not react if you do such a thing? That means we’re going to have to do something.
Kurz’s decision to close 7 mosques and expel 40 imams was announced on June 8.
Declaring that “parallel societies, political Islam and radicalisation have no place in [Austria],” Sebastian Kurz added that closing radical mosques and expelling imams is only the beginning of a plan to eliminate islamic ideology, radicalization and foreign-funded religious groups in Austria.
This announcement immediately elicited a reaction from Turkey, who, on June 8, labelled the decision as “racist,” “discriminatory,” and “anti-islam.”
In a tweet, Turkish presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın, stated that these practices were in violation of human and minority rights.
