Some civil society groups, academics and journalists have said hate speech and hate crimes are serious problems in the country and that there is a need for legislation that combats both hate speech and hate crimes, which are widespread in Turkey but not well documented with the exception of a few prominent cases.
The Hate Crimes Conference on April 15-17 organized by the Association for Social Change (SDD) and Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism! (Dur De!) opened with the presentation of sample cases in order to face the country's past.
The cases included a smear campaign against musician Ahmet Kaya, who died in Paris in 2000 at the age of 43 during self-imposed exile to escape several charges arising from his political views; the 2007 murder of journalist Hrant Dink, who was the editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos; in Malatya, the Zirve murders of 2007 when three people who sold Christian literature were brutally killed; the murder of Catholic priest Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon.
The cases also included a vigilante campaign against Roma living in Selendi, Manisa, when about 70 Roma, including 15 children, were forced to leave a village last year.
Media critic Ragıp Duran, Çalışlar and other participants in the conference emphasized that hate speech should be evaluated in a multi-dimensional way as the country’s education system is likely to make people prone to hating others who are not “Turks.”
Sıdıka Çetin from the Human Rights Research Association (İHAD) said they will continue their lobbying efforts in Ankara for anti-hate crime legislation. “We hope that there will be anti-discrimination and hate crime legislation in Parliament following the elections,” she said, Today’s Zaman reports.
