Austria arrests two after arson attack on Turkish cultural center


Date posted: August 15, 2016

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an attempt to set fire to a Turkish cultural centre in the northern Austrian town of Wels, police said on Monday, at a time of heightened tension between Vienna and Ankara.

The attack took place in early morning and the suspects, whom police declined to identify, were arrested immediately.

Turks are one of Austria’s biggest immigrant communities, with more than 100,000 Turkish nationals registered in the country of 8.7 million people.

Wels, which has roughly 60,000 inhabitants, is also Austria’s biggest town to have a mayor from the anti-immigration Freedom Party.

“An incendiary device was thrown through a pane of glass into the centre’s premises. The incendiary device extinguished by itself and there was barely any property damage,” a provincial police spokesman said, suggesting the device was a petrol bomb.

Austria has been sharply critical of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s clampdown on supporters of a U.S.-based cleric whom he blames for last month’s failed coup attempt.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern has accused Erdogan of failing to adhere to democratic standards and suggested that the European Union should end accession talks with Turkey.

In a sign of the heightened tension, Turkey summoned Austria’s charge d’affaires in Ankara over what it said was “indecent report” about Turkey on a news ticker at Vienna airport.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Source: Reuters , August 15, 2016


Related News

Turkey Coup: Fethulah Gulen Is Not A Terrorist

Fethulah Gulen did not fall from the sky or moon, he has a history that is in the public domain, the question is why did it take Erdogan too long to realize that Gulen is a terrorist? All through the years of robust relationship between Fethulah and Erdogan there was no accusation that Gulen was a terrorist, why now?

Dr. Ergil answers 100 questions about Fethullah Gülen and his movement

MURAT TOKAY Professor Doğu Ergil, a distinguished political scientist, has completed his two-and-a-half-year study on the volunteer movement inspired by Fethullah Gülen, a preacher, prolific writer and advocate of interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Titled “100 Soruda Fethullah Gülen ve Hareketi” (Fethullah Gülen and His Movement in 100 Questions) (Timaş Publishing House), Ergil’s book dissects the […]

Dismissed police officer dies of heart attack in German refugee camp

Ali Ünlü, a 42-year-old former police officer who was earlier dismissed from his job as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown, died of heart attack in a refugee camp in Stuttgart, according to media and people with knowledge of the incident.

A new Exilic Community: The Hizmet Movement

After the alleged military coup that failed, the Islamic-rooted government forced hundreds of thousands of faith-based community members out of Turkey, causing a massive diaspora of Turkish citizens (deprived, however, of their citizenship) around the world.

Why is Erdoğan hostile to Turkish schools?

The Hizmet movement has had considerable successes in the field of education. While its share in the Turkish education sector is not colossal, the quality of its services stands out.

‘Alliance with PKK’ claims latest conspiracy against Gülen movement

News reports trying to create a perception that the faith-based Gülen movement is cooperating with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are ill-intentioned, according to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s lawyer, Orhan Erdemli. In a statement he released on Gülen’s website, www.tr.fgulen.com, on Monday, Erdemli pointed out that certain media outlets’ “incriminating” attitude toward his client […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Bridge-building in ‘enemy country’ – Story of a Turkish asylum seeker in Greece

Islamist daily published profiling story in 2010

PM Erdoğan has one tone for Brussels, another for Turkey

Turkish Deputy PM Ali Babacan visits Turkish, Japanese schools in Sendai

UN to Turkey: Free and Compensate Gulen-linked Detainees

Interfaith Ramadan Iftar Dinner Held in Montville

Gulen admits meeting key figure in Turkey coup plot, dismisses Erdogan’s ‘senseless’ claims

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News