A quote from The Guardian, 8 July 2008
 
Far right groups in Switzerland have collected enough signatures to force a nationwide referendum on banning minarets, the distinctive towers of Islamic architecture. In what is being seen as a sign of growing Islamophobia in Europe, more than 100,000 Swiss citizens signed a petition to halt the construction of minarets. […]
 
The petition was launched by Ulrich Schlüer an MP from the controversial Swiss People's party, […] The president of Switzerland, Pascal Couchepin, said the government would recommend that voters rejected the proposed minaret ban.
 
The organisers of the petition argue that the minarets, which are used on mosques, are a symbol of political and religious claims to power, not just a religious sign. […] If Schlüer's camp wins the referendum, the Swiss parliament must pass a law enshrining a minaret construction ban in the constitution. […]
 
More than 310,000 of Switzerland's 7.5 million population are Muslims, according to the federal statistical office. The UN expert on racism, Doudou Diene, has said the campaign is evidence of an "ever-increasing trend" toward anti-Islamic actions in Europe.
 
 
A quote from the BBC, 28 May 2007
 
"We don't have anything against Muslims," said Oskar Freysinger, member of parliament for the Swiss People's Party. "But we don't want minarets. The minaret is a symbol of a political and aggressive Islam, it's a symbol of Islamic law. The minute you have minarets in Europe it means Islam will have taken over." […] "We have our civil laws here," insisted Mr Freysinger. "Banning minarets would send a clear signal that our European laws, our Swiss laws, have to be accepted. And if you want to live here, you must accept them. If you don't, then go back."
 
 
A quote from Swissinfo, 8 July 2008
 
The centre-right Christian Democratic Party with its traditional Catholic background has called the idea of banning minarets unconstitutional, dangerous and stupid. The country's association of Protestant churches has rejected it as divisive.
 
Marcel Stüssi, a researcher at Lucerne University […] says any ban would be incompatible with articles of international law to which Switzerland is a signatory. In the event that Swiss voters were to ban minarets, any of the 107 other signatories to the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties of 1969 could launch action against Switzerland.