Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the closure of seven mosques and expulsion of a number of imams from Austria as part of the fight against “political Islam.”

One of the mosques awaiting closure is the one run by a Turkish far-right organisation and six other mosques are run by the Arab religious community, said Kurz.

“There’s no room for parallel societies, for political Islam and radical trends in our country,” Kurtz said.

Austrian Interior Minister explained that some 60 imams and their families will be expelled from the country.

The Turkish President’s Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin reacted to this decision saying its final aim is to marginalize the Muslim communities in the country and to achieve political gain.

He tweeted on his Twitter account that “Austria uses a lame excuse to close seven mosques and deport imams,” adding it is “a reflection of the anti-Islam, racist and discriminatory populist wave in this country.”

Kalin concluded that the ideological attitude of the Austrian Government is against universal legal norms, policies of social compliance, minorities’ rights, as well as the morality of coexistence.

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