MISSION EUROPA NETZWERK KARL MARTELL: Below is a report from our [Mission Europa’s] Austrian correspondent ESW about the Austrian city of Telfs, which has a large unassimilated Turkish population, and lives in denial about the existence of any problems.
The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), currently under fire for its worrying financial situation, has upped the ante by providing its viewers another one-sided perspective of problems with (Muslim) integration.
ORF devoted its Sunday prime time program to integration problems. This included a movie about the murder of a Turkish girl and her Austrian boyfriend found dead in the forests surrounding the city of Telfs. Telfs, located in the western part of Austria, is most famous for its relatively large Turkish population and its mosque sporting a 15-meter minaret (pdf). According to its website, Telfs has 15,000 inhabitants of which approximately 2,500 are of Turkish descent. Of the 2,500 Turkish-Muslim inhabitants, 65% are Austrian citizens. The official website concedes that their integration into the host society will most likely take many years. Due to the rapidly growing Muslim community and the presence of its two mosques there is a need for active inter-religious dialogue.
Temel Demir, an official of ATIB (Union der Türkisch-Islamischen Kulturvereine) and the initiator of the building of the mosque, says, “There are no problems between us and the Austrians.” He is right, because there is no interaction between them. Those who settled in Telfs in the 1960’s built their own infrastructure consisting of coffee houses, hairdressers, and supermarkets, where little or no German is needed. Turks and Austrians sit next to each other during school, but as soon as the bell rings they go their separate ways. It is in towns like these where parallel societies are most obvious, despite the continued denial of the Green parties everywhere. Whether in Berlin, in Cologne or in Vienna, as soon as Muslims demand the public display of their religious symbols, pub-goers will ask themselves: Why don’t you speak proper German after 40 years of living in Austria? Why can’t your children get jobs other than those in factories? Why aren’t your girls allowed to grow up and live the way our girls do? >>> By Baron Bodissey | Posted on Mission Europa’s website on Wednesday by paulipoldie, January 7, 2009
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