AKIPRESS.COM - Austria is closing seven mosques and could expel dozens of imams from the country, Al Jazeera reported citing the government.

At a press conference on Friday, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the government is shutting down a Turkish mosque and dissolving a group called the Arab Religious Community which runs six mosques.

The Austrian government's actions stem from a 2015 law, which banned foreign funding of religious groups and required Muslim societies to have "a positive fundamental view towards [Austria's] state and society".

"Parallel societies, political Islam and tendencies toward radicalisation have no place in our country," Kurz said.

Austria is home to an estimated 600,000 Muslims, mostly of Turkish origin.