Austria Summons Turkish Ambassador Over Anti-Coup Rallies in Vienna

According to Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, the Turkish ambassador has been summoned to Austria's Foreign Ministry. Kurz told reporters that the ambassador would be asked whether Turkish officials encouraged thousands of people in Austria to take to the streets during the failed coup, in support of President Recep Tayiip Erdogan.

"We have evidence that the demonstrations for Erdogan that have taken place in Vienna were called for directly from Turkey… and that, of course, is absolutely untenable and we want to protest against that," he said.

"We want to clarify… which direction Turkey is going to take," he added during an interview.

There are around quarter of a million people of Turkish origin reportedly living in Austria, with over 76,000 in Vienna. As the coup unfolded, thousands took to the streets to protest against the coup. Around 4,000 marched to the Turkish embassy in Vienna on Friday night before moving to another district, causing a partial blockade of the Ringstrasse.

The protests were criticized by many Austrian politicians, including Austria's Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka, who said: "To spread the domestic political opinion from Turkey to Austria under the cover of freedom to demonstrate is unacceptable."