An association with ties to a Turkish Islamist sect operates a mosque with a Koranic school in a commercial property in Leonding, Upper Austria (photo above). Although the municipality has now confirmed the illegality of this, the landlord must continue his years-long, costly legal battle with the extremists.
This seemingly never-ending story began 20 years ago with a rental agreement that four men signed with Siegfried Meinhart’s M+M Immo GmbH. The four wanted to set up a private club on two floors of his commercial property on Welserstraße in Leonding. The landlord only found out by chance that the ‘Islamic Assembly and Education Association’ had been registered there shortly afterwards. From that point on, according to Meinhart, there were repeated disputes with other tenants, as reported by exxpress. The issue was parking spaces. Customers of the companies also renting space there could no longer park because all the spaces were taken by association members.
‘The kuffar (unbelievers, ed.) have no say over me and my brothers; we have the right here,’ reported a security company in March 2023, which had been hired by an insurance broker who had since moved out as a car park attendant, describing the altercation with a club member. Another former tenant reported that after an argument over a blocked driveway, ‘the new VW bus in front of the entrance was worth 20,000 euros less overnight.’ The company boss could not prove that the punctured tyres, smashed windows and scratched paintwork were related to the argument. He also preferred to move out. Just like the wellness oasis company ‘Delfin’, which, according to managing director Harald Kogler, changed location in 2010 ‘not only, but also because of the mosque in the building’.
The economic fiasco caused by lost income from premises that could no longer be rented out due to the mosque’s operation was exacerbated by a legal defeat. For years, Meinhart tried in vain to get rid of the unwelcome tenant on the grounds that the establishment of a mosque in his building had not been agreed upon. The Traun District Court dismissed an eviction suit last January. Among other things, it gave this remarkable reasoning: ‘It is not comprehensible why the operation of a Koran school or a prayer room in breach of contract should constitute grounds for termination (according to § 30 of the Tenancy Law Act, ed.).’ The legal costs of €40,000 were payable by the unsuccessful plaintiff.
The Leonding municipal council, where the case was briefly discussed in May 2023, also saw no problem with the association. According to the minutes of the meeting, a question from the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) to Mayor Sabine Jelinek (Social Democratic Party of Austria, SPÖ) was answered by Thomas Dirngrabner, head of the building authority. He reported information from the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (LVT) that no mosque was being operated on Welserstraße: Dirngrabner: ‘The (constitutional protection authorities, ed.) observed this, so to speak, but classified it (the association, ed.) as unproblematic.’
The state police’s clearance certificate is surprising. Because if you had looked really closely at that point, you would have seen that the association with the harmless-sounding name identified itself as part of an Islamist network. In any case, the official name of the association was not displayed at the entrance to the association’s premises. However, a disc-shaped logo with a diameter of about one metre was stuck to the inside of the outer glazing with the Turkish inscription: ‘Ismailaga Avrupa – Oberösterreich Subesi’ (in English: Ismailaga Europe – Upper Austria Branch). In addition, there was the information ‘Darul Kur’an Medresisi’ (= Koran school). This inscription, which was also legible from the outside through the glass wall in mirror writing, was removed immediately after it had been discussed in a hearing before the Traun court. Although photos of it exist, a member of the association who was asked about it denies that such an inscription ever existed here.
A glance inside the clubhouse confirms not only the existence of a mosque – recognisable by its minbar (pulpit), foot washing basin and carpet facing Mecca – but also its close ties to the Turkish Ismailaga sect. On a shelf lies a stack of brochures about the Ismailaga headquarters in the Fatih Carsamba district of Istanbul. One tabletop is designed as a map, apparently showing the sect’s expansion in Europe. Among others, Ismailaga branches in Vienna (Viyana) and Innsbruck are also mentioned.
The bookshelves contain numerous works by Ismailaga founder Mahmoud Ustaosmanoglu, who died three years ago, including his multi-volume epic ‘Sohbetler,’ which conveys an exclusivist doctrine of Sunni Hanafi Islam. Women must wear veils. At Ustaosmanoglu’s funeral, they were unwelcome at the express wish of the deceased. Mahmoud Efendi, as his followers called him, rejected secular education and urged girls in particular to attend Koranic schools instead of secondary schools. The Ismailaga headquarters’ website explains its educational philosophy: ‘Let us adhere to the sciences of Sharia. … May Allah protect us from useless knowledge.’ This website also provides a deep insight into the anti-Semitic thinking of this Muslim Brotherhood. A series of articles lists ‘the ugly characteristics of the Jews’. The Jews are a ‘corrupt people who cause mischief on earth,’ it says. Or: ‘They do not hesitate to plunge all of humanity into misfortune in order to protect their own interests and advantages.’
Brussels apparently did not take a closer look either. This is the only way to explain why the Ismailaga Youth Foundation Yavuz Sultan Selim was able to obtain €31,455 from the Erasmus+ funding pot in 2022 for workshops against discrimination against Muslims, which is not exactly widespread in Turkey. It was only when criticism was voiced in the European Parliament that the European Commission demanded the money back two years ago. To date, however, the EU authority cannot or will not say whether the €31,455 has actually been repaid. Despite repeated inquiries, the only response has been that the money has been reclaimed.
The local Ministry of the Interior is also reluctant to provide information. It is impossible to ascertain whether the Office for the Protection of the Constitution now knows more about this sect’s Austrian connection. Despite repeated inquiries about Ismailaga activities in Austria, the Ministry of the Interior insists that ‘no specific information is provided about organisations or groups and their activities’. Unlike its German counterpart, the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s report also makes no mention of this. In Germany, the Ismailaga sect is classified as an anti-constitutional and extremist group, which must be of interest to the Austrian authorities insofar as preachers from Germany were also spotted in Leonding during this year’s Ramadan.
Ultimately, however, it is not these questionable connections that will bring about the demise of this mosque. Following a fire safety inspection carried out in April – under police protection – with the participation of the building authority, what had long been obvious has now been officially confirmed. The municipal building authority recognised ‘that a structure requiring approval is being constructed or has already been constructed without a building permit’.
However, the landlord had to pay up once again.
Formally, he is the perpetrator and must ensure that the situation is restored to a legally compliant state. In order to enforce this against the tenant, Meinhart had to hire an architect and, absurdly, apply for retrospective approval of the mosque construction measures, which had not been agreed with him and which he did not even want. He did this in the hope of receiving a negative decision. This decision has been available since mid-July: on the grounds that the property in question is designated in the zoning plan as a ‘mixed-use area restricted to commercial use’, the submitted project has been rejected. The decision of the municipal building authority states literally: ‘Places of assembly or churches, as well as the house of prayer in question, cannot be subsumed under commercial use and are therefore excluded from this zoning.’
M+M Immo boss Meinhart finally believed he had a legal title in his hands that proved the tenant’s unlawful use of his property and would enable immediate termination. But it’s apparently not quite that simple. The association, whose chairman Yilmaz Gürsel refuses to answer journalists’ questions, is making no move to vacate the premises of its own accord. Friday prayers continue to take place regardless of the official decision.
Meinhart’s previous solicitor believes that an eviction lawsuit that has already been dismissed once cannot simply be reintroduced without any change in the facts of the case. Since the district court had already refused to consider the breach of contract as grounds for termination before the official confirmation was received, a new eviction lawsuit must be substantiated. With a new solicitor, Meinhart, whose doubts about the rule of law are growing along with the costs, now wants to bring this never-ending story to a conclusion.