09 January 2017

Minister's call for public office headscarf ban angers Muslims

.... Kurz's proposal was also rejected by the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGiOe), which said in a statement that such a measure would be a completely false signal and be "anti-integrative" and "discriminatory."

The organisation's president Ibrahim Olgun said: "We urgently urge the withdrawal of this move, which threatens to undermine further cooperation between the IGGiOe and the Ministry."

The organisation feared the move would "hit the emancipated and educated women and push them into the kitchen."

Yet many political leaders from different Austrian states supported Kurz’s initiative.

State Governor of Styria Hermann Schuetzenhoefer said: "We must defend our values like freedom, democracy and equal rights." [The Local] Read more