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

Black propaganda websites granted legal shield

Circles close to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government have been accused of conducting a large-scale black propaganda war against the Hizmet movement, which was inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen; media outlets close to the movement; and journalists critical of the government.

RTÜK suspends 20 SHaber TV shows, harshest penalty of all times

Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has suspended 20 TV shows of the Samanyolu Haber TV news channel, its Editor in Chief Metin Yıkar announced via his Twitter account on Saturday. The RTÜK penalty came days after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to finish off the Hizmet Movement and its affiliates, including the Samanyolu Haber TV.

Escape from Turkey’s parallel reality

As a law-abiding citizen, I knew I had done nothing wrong to be stopped at the border. But in Turkey being a journalist from Zaman media group was enough for me to be considered an “enemy of the state.” And I was the editor-in-chief of Today’s Zaman which had been brutally taken over a few days earlier, earning me a suspended jail sentence for my tweets criticizing then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

AKP official: Torture claims won’t be investigated if victims are Gülenists

A Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy has said there will be no investigations into claims of torture and mistreatment of people put into prison after a July 15 coup attempt if those victims are sympathizers of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Turkish family kept at Kiev airport for days at Turkey’s request

A Turkish family that was reportedly detained by Ukrainian authorities on Thursday, have been kept in a room at Kiev Boryspil Airport for three days, waiting to be deported to Turkey, according to a video recording the family members posted on social media.

US Congressman: No Credibility In Charges By Turkey Against Gülen

US Congressman Brad Sherman said on Thursday that charges against US-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen by the Turkish government and Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have no credibility and that he would not be treated with justice if he were in Turkey.

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

GYV awards peace projects in İstanbul ceremony

Does the Gülen (Hizmet) Movement Deny the Armenian Genocide?

Pulitzer Prize equals five years in prison in Turkey

‘Hizmet conspiracy’ theories rejected at iftar hosted by Alevis

Outcome of Dakar Conference on Hizmet Movement

Gülen-linked teachers, businessman detained in Afghanistan

Success stories of Kenya’s Light Academies’ beaming alumni

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News