Racist signboards erected close to mosques in Austria’s capital

VIENNA, Austria

Racist signboards were erected in many locations close to mosques in the Austrian capital Vienna, sources from the country's Islamic community said on Wednesday.

Following the appearance of the controversial "Islam map," signboards with images depicting a man with beard and skullcap and reading "Attention: Political Islam is nearby. See Islam Map for further info" started to appear in recent days.

According to a statement by Islamic Religious Authority in Austria (IGGiO), the signboards expose many mosques to attacks.

The "Islam map", which shares detailed information of the country's Muslims and their institutions, should be canceled before it causes more provocation and danger, the statement said.

On the other hand, various media outlets in the country reported that anti-Islam signboards might have been erected by the racist group "Identitarian," which advocates a pan-European nationalist far-right political ideology.

Austrian Integration Ministry launched an Internet website called the "National Map of Islam" last week with the names and locations of more than 620 mosques, associations and officials.

Many Muslims feel stigmatized and their security threatened by the publication of addresses and other details amid growing Islamophobia in Austria, especially in the wake of a deadly Islamist terror attack in Vienna last November.

Austrian Muslims are deeply concerned over ongoing attempts by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to instrumentalize political Islam for his far-right agenda.

Austrian Integration Minister Susanne Raab Tuesday defended the contentious "Islam map" amid mounting criticism within the country's Muslim community.

"This is by no means a general suspicion of Muslims. It's about the common struggle against political Islam as a breeding ground for extremism," Raab told the German WELT newspaper.

Islamic Religious Community in Austria, which represents the interests of roughly 800,000 Muslims in Austria, warned against stigmatizing all Muslims living in that country "as a potential danger to society and the democratic legal order in the country."

*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk in Ankara​​​​​​​