Minarets are the tall spires on some mosques that serve to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer is made. In Switzerland—where there are only four minarets in the entire country— these architectural features are now banned :
Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show.
More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons – or provinces – voted in favour of the ban.
The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People’s Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets are a sign of Islamisation.
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