Austria 'treating Turks like a virus' ambassador claims

Turkey's ambassador to Austria has accused the country of treating Turks like a virus in a scathing interview.

In an interview with Die Presse, ambassador Kadri Ecved Tezcan said Austria was pushing people of Turkish origin to the fringes instead of learning to live with them and benefiting from their skills.

"If you don't want foreigners here, then just chase them away," Mr Teczan said. "You must learn to live with other people. What's Austria's problem?"

Mr Teczan, who has lived in Vienna for a year, also criticised interior minister Maria Fekter for her tough stance on illegal immigrants, which includes overseeing the deportations of families with young children.

"What she stands for doesn't conform with a liberal, open mindset," Mr Teczan said, adding the same was true for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Turks are happy, they don't want anything from you," he said. "They just don't want to be treated like a virus."

Mr Tezcan was summoned to the Austrian Foreign Ministry to explain his remarks to a high-ranking official, and foreign minister Michael Spindelegger called Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

Roughly 250,000 Austrians with Turkish roots live in Austria, along with some 112,150 Turkish citizens.