June 15, 2014

Hate Speech and Beyond: Targeting the Gülen Movement in Turkey

http://www.rethinkinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Hate-Speech-and-Beyond.pdfhttp://www.rethinkinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Hate-Speech-and-Beyond.pdf
On December 17, 2013, a graft probe alleging corruption among some members of the cabinet became public. Immediately thereafter, the Gülen movement (a.k.a. Hizmet), one of the largest faith-based communities in Turkey, became the target of offensive statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The paper argues that from the standpoint of human rights law, there is little doubt that some of the prime minister’s statements are fundamentally incompatible with the principles underlying the concept of human rights. Some of these expressions, indeed, amount to prima facie hate speech as understood by the European Court of Human Rights, the jurisdiction of which is already accepted by Turkey.

Erdoğan's witch hunt turns key state institutions upside down

Since a sweeping graft scandal broke on Dec. 17, ongoing purges in state and semi-autonomous institutions have reached a level where these bodies face a serious risk of being unable to function properly, as indicated by a recent controversial report in which the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) said that leaked voiced recordings implicating government officials in corruption were fabricated.

Losing direction

Orhan Oğuz Gürbüz

How much progress can be made by undermining such notions as justice and law in Turkey? This is the fundamental question. A state where legal mechanisms are not properly operated cannot possibly offer something to its people or to the international community.

Former AK Party official: Corruption allegations cannot be buried

Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, who was once very close to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, says on the allegations raised during the Dec. 17 process, “A trial is not something to be condemned; but remaining under suspicion is bad.” He notes that the government is politically responsible for the illegal wiretapping.