The Austrian government is to order the closure of seven mosques and expel up to 60 imams in a crackdown on political Islam and Turkish nationalism, it has announced.

“Parallel societies, political Islam and radicalisation have no place in our country,” Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, said.

Six of the seven mosques are being closed on suspicion of links to Islamic extremism. They are run by an organisation called the Arab Religious Community, which the government has also ordered to be shut down.

The seventh mosque affected is a separate case. It is to be closed on suspicion of links to the Grey Wolves, a far-Right Turkish nationalist group.

The move comes after images emerged earlier this year of children as young as four being made to wear Turkish army uniforms and salute the Turkish flag inside the mosque in Vienna’s Favoriten district.

Two imams have received deportation orders, and another 60 are under investigation and could face expulsion along with their family members, Herbert Kickl, the Austrian interior minister, said.

They include 40 members of the Union of Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations in Europe (ATIB), a group close to the Turkish government which is also suspected of links with the Grey Wolves.