Turkish citizens living in Austria also voted in the second round with a large majority for the incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In Vienna, Erdogan’s re-election was loudly celebrated by his fans on Sunday evening. Road traffic was also paralyzed in some places. In domestic politics that is not fun at all: there is talk of “parallel societies” and also “a crude understanding of democracy”.
Voter turnout reached a record 57.6 percent in Austria’s second round of voting. About 108,000 Turkish citizens were eligible to vote in Germany. You could vote in Vienna, Salzburg, Bregenz, Linz, Graz and Innsbruck. In the first round of the presidential election two weeks ago, nearly 72 percent of Austrian-Turks voted for Erdogan.
Erdogan did particularly well in Austria in an international comparison. The result for the incumbent was again better in other European countries with large Turkish communities than in their own country. First and foremost Germany, where according to preliminary results about 67.4 percent voted for Erdogan, France (66.6 percent), the Netherlands (70.4 percent) and Belgium (74.9 percent).
Fans showed banned “wolf salute”
Numerous fans of the Turkish president celebrated the election victory in Vienna on Sunday evening. Videos on social networks showed how loudly revelers waved Turkish flags at Reumannplatz in Vienna-Favoriten. Around 11:30 p.m., the situation calmed down again through the intervention of the officials and accompanying reports. According to the police, there were also advertisements according to the “symbol law”, as – as in previous events – the banned “wolf salute” was shown by individual cheering Erdogan fans.
“Grue understanding of democracy”
The Greens’ human rights spokeswoman Berivan Aslan criticized the night of escalation on Twitter: “Taking advantage of democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law – but at the same time voting for the persecution of dissidents, right-wing extremism and exclusion in Turkey shows a crass understanding of democracy. “
Viennese FPÖ speaks of “caliphate”
The Viennese FPÖ saw the meetings as an opportunity to find a “caliphate”. For FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, “the brutality of the fanatics is the result of the weakness of the SPÖ and ÖVP and also the result of decades of neglect in the field of integration”.
Vienna’s ÖVP boss Karl Mahrer also responded to the riots on Sunday evening: “If, after the victory of the controversial Turkish president Erdogan, thousands of people suddenly paralyze traffic and public order to celebrate ‘their’ president, we are today witnesses of another … aggravation of the situation. Parallel societies are increasingly isolating themselves from Austrian society and living their lives. Of course, this also includes Turkish politics in the middle of Vienna.”
“Imported Political Activism”
“Imported political activism and violence must be condemned in the strongest terms and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Nationalism imported from abroad is the opposite of integration and has no place here,” Integration Minister Susanne Raab said in a statement.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
