Austria accuses Turkey of 'trying to sow strife'

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - Archive

Click to read the article in Turkish

Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz made a statement about the clashes that unfolded on the streets of Vienna yesterday (June 30).

As reported by the Austria-based Kurier news website, Turkey's Ambassador to Vienna appeared in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday.

Kurz has said that "the ambassador was called in to make it clear that there must be an end to Turkey's attempts to influence the people there in Austria and instrumentalizing them for their conflicts."

Kurz has "found it unbearable" that Turkey is talking about police violence against the Austrian citizens of Turkish origin.

In response to a question by a journalist, Kurz has noted, "I do not expect a lot of support from Turkey" and added, "Because I know exactly what Turkey is trying to do here, namely to use the Turks in Europe to sow strife and to make campaign above all for Turkey's own interests."

Chancellor Kurz has also indicated that "in his view, it is an abuse of people with Turkish roots who live in Europe."

"These conflicts are imported from Turkey," Kurz has slammed the recent clashes and said, "If you have a need for street arguments, you should do it in Turkey, but there is no place in Austria."

Sebastian Kurz is currently the Chancellor of Austria and the Chair of Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), a conservative and Christian-democratic political party which is currently in coalition with the Green Party.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry made a statement

On June 29, the Foreign Ministry of Turkey also issued a press release in response to the conflicts and the intervention of the police.

Condemning the "harsh intervention of the security forces" and accusing Austria for "turning a blind eye to the use of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) symbols," the statement of the ministry briefly said:

"We condemn the harsh intervention of Austrian security forces that caused the injury of young people of Turkish origin as well as damage to business places belonging to the Turkish community.

"We urge the Austrian authorities to fight properly PKK which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union (EU), and not to make of the issue material for populist politics.

"The Ambassador of Austria to Ankara will be summoned to the Ministry in order to share our concerns regarding the fact that the PKK-linked groups were allowed to organize rallies four days in a row and that the Austrian security forces used violence against the Turkish youth."

CLICK - 'Kurdish-Turkish conflict' in Vienna: Ambassadors summoned

What happened?

Last week, on June 25 and 26, around 300 Kurdish protesters and Turkish counter-protesters clashed on the streets of Vienna.

Speaking in a press conference, Minister of Interior Karl Nehammer said that both sides attacked the police and added, "It is completely unacceptable that the conflicts concerning Turkey took place in Austrian territory."

Nehammer also added that "if it was found out that Turkish groups caused instability in Austria upon the order of Ankara, it would be unacceptable."

Police also fined some protesters for using a banned hand gesture associated with the "Grey Wolves," a Turkish nationalist group.

While 11 people were taken into custody, seven police officers were also wounded in the clashes. (PT/SD)