Council of Europe warns against hate speech by senior state officials in Turkey


Date posted: October 17, 2016

The human rights body of the Council of Europe, the Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), issued a report on Wednesday raising concerns about the increasing use of hate speech, even by senior state officials, calling it “worrying.”

The report said that “hate speech is on the rise, and most of it goes unpunished. Its increasing use by the senior state representatives is particularly worrying.”

Releasing a statement on the report, ECRI chairman Christian Ahlund said that “although the report was drafted before the coup attempt in July 2016, it contains recommendations to the Turkish authorities which are fully relevant today.”

Although hate speech in Turkey has long targeted non-Muslims and ethnic and religious minorities, in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15 it has been primarily directed at sympathizers of the Gülen movement, a social-religious civic society group inspired by the teachings of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen. While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the Gülen sympathizers “viruses,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım labeled them microbes. The movement is the main target of a massive purge and witch-hunt in Turkey.

The ECRI, which called refugees, Kurds and Roma as well as LGBT persons vulnerable groups in Turkey, aims to analyze problems of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance as well as discrimination due to race, national/ethnic origin, color, citizenship, religion or language.

However the report, which does not cover the post-coup era, welcomed the establishment of an Ombudsman in 2013 and the Human Rights and Equality Authority in 2016. Comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, a national strategy for Roma and an “open-door” policy for Syrian refugees, including the issuance of work permits, are also cited as positive steps.

According to the report, at least 400,000 refugee children do not have access to school, and by the end of 2015 only 7,400 refugees had received work permits.

The body suggested that Turkey establish a body that is fully independent of the police, other security forces and prosecutors for the investigation of alleged cases of police misconduct including ill treatment.

Following the coup attempt, Amnesty International issued a report citing credible evidence of torture in Turkish prisons.

Source: Turkey Purge , October 4, 2016

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Erdoğan’s parallel bicycle gets rotten

SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI Because he believes that the lies about the so-called “parallel state” are a useful tool to cover up the corruption charges, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan keeps riding this parallel bicycle. He is aware that once he stops riding this bicycle, he will fall off and the corruption charges will be exposed to […]

Kosovo investigates seizure of Turkish nationals

Kosovo authorities are investigating the arrest and extradition of six Turkish citizens, which activists said represented a violation of human rights, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said on Saturday.

Crackdown in Turkey passes the point of no return

Turkey’s alliances with the US and EU are fraying badly. Above all, Mr Erdogan is moulding the country in his own image, with only a uniform message allowed. As one liberal intellectual puts it: “In the past you got arrested for what you said, but now you can be arrested for what you don’t say.”

SP’s Kamalak says MGK, not Hizmet movement, should discuss Kurdish issue

Felicity Party (SP) leader Mustafa Kamalak, commenting on a proclamation made by the National Security Council (MGK) on Wednesday, has said that instead of labeling the Hizmet movement as a “threat to national security,” the MGK should consider the government’s Kurdish policy which is leading to a “division of the country.”

GYV Declaration: The AKP and Hizmet on democracy

The Hizmet movement’s Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) released a statement on its website on Thursday in which it said it is worried about the profiling of citizens, civic groups and public employees. It demanded that all the legislation that is reminiscent of the old, anti-democratic Turkey must be revised to ensure their full compliance with fundamental rights and freedoms.

As Gulen movement contracts in Africa, worry over who will fill the vacuum

Abdallah Kheri, who in Kenya heads the Islamic Research and Education Trust, worries that shuttering Gulen schools and other institutions could leave a vacuum that the so-called Islamic State will seek to fill. “Closing down the institutions would definitely grant gains to the fundamentalists,” he said. In Kenya, the Rev. Wilybard Lagho, Mombasa Roman Catholic diocese vicar general, said he would lament the demise of Gulen schools.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

UK Clears Gulenists Of Turkey’s ‘Coup’ Accusations

‘Every minister I met in Africa asked for more schools’

Erdoğan vows to strip Gülen sympatizers off Turkish citizenship

Turkish Deputy PM Ali Babacan visits Turkish, Japanese schools in Sendai

Borough President Adams Celebrates Eid with Food Donation

Gulen named author of the month in Casablanca

Turkey: Post-coup prisoner says threatened with rape, beaten almost to death

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News