Austria, on Saturday, released a 'National Map of Islam', portraying mosques, communities and other such places of congregation across the country, multiple media outlets reported. Minister Susanne Raab, from the right-wing ruling party, unveiled a website with an interactive map showing names and locations of more than 600 mosques, associations and officials and their possible links abroad, reported SBS Australia. There was a lot of backlash against the move, with reports claiming that the ruling OeVP party's coalition partner, the Greens, also distanced itself from it.
Arab News reported that while that the IGGOe Muslim representative council stated that the move “demonstrates the government’s manifest intent to stigmatise all Muslims as a potential danger”, Raab insisted that the map was not meant to “place Muslims in general under suspicion” and that the aim was “to fight political ideologies, not religion”.
According to Barron's, Turkey hit out against the move. "The presentation by Integration Minister Susanne Raab of a map listing all Muslim associations in Austria... is inadmissible," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement. Ankara urged Vienna not "compile a register of Muslims", but to adopt "a responsible policy".
