2009 Swiss minaret referendum
The federal popular initiative "against the construction of minarets" was a successful popular initiative in Switzerland to prevent the construction of minarets on mosques. In a November 2009 referendum, a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new minarets was approved by 57.5% of the participating voters. Only three of the twenty Swiss cantons and one half canton, mostly in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, opposed the initiative.
The Ahmadiyya mosque in Zürich (built 1963), the oldest Swiss mosque with a minaret
On the evening of the vote, demonstrations against the result were held in Switzerland's major cities. The banner beneath the makeshift minarets reads: "Integrate rather than exclude."
Minaret at the mosque of the local Turkish cultural association in Wangen bei Olten, the initial motivation for the popular initiative.
On 8 December 2009, a mock minaret was erected over an industrial storage facility in Bussigny, in protest against the referendum outcome.
Popular initiative in Switzerland
A popular initiative allows people to suggest laws on a national, cantonal, and municipal level.
Demonstration, in front of the Federal Palace of Switzerland, in support of the federal popular initiative "for a ban on the export of military equipment", in 2007. The votation was organised on 29 November 2009.
