Hate speech freely targets Armenians in Turkey

Hate speech freely targets Armenians in Turkey –

By Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Today’s Zaman

I did not establish this link before. I just realized these two things happened together when I read a recent petition by the Ankara Düşünceye Özgürlük Girişimi (Ankara Freedom of Thought Initiative). The initiative in this petition tries to attract the attention of prosecutors to hate speech targeting Armenians and links this concerning development with the election of three Turks of Armenian descent as deputies.

First of all, it is really interesting to see us having three Armenian deputies from three parties elected to Parliament: Markar Esayan from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Selina Doğan from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Garo Paylan from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

I guess we have not had such a composition in the entire history of the Turkish Republic. This is a development everyone who believes in democracy in Turkey should welcome wholeheartedly.

However, this development has apparently also generated more hate speech from well-known sources in Turkey.

A textbook example of racist hate speech targeting those deputies came from the mayor of Turkey’s sixth-largest city. Adana Mayor Hüseyin Özlü is from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Mentioning Matild Manukyan, a former Armenian owner of some brothels in Turkey, Özlü tweeted: “Manukyan’s nephews residing in Adana are happy. The children of the three aunts have also entered Parliament through the [AK Party, the CHP and the HDP]. Regardless of how proud they are, it will still not be enough.”

Another example of racist hate speech that poses a greater danger to the welfare of Turks of Armenian descent came from Kars.

The head of Kars Ülkü Ocakları, the youth organization of the ultranationalists, which is somehow connected to the MHP, voiced threats against Armenians in Kars after jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan performed a concert at the Ani Ruins. Speaking at a press conference, they openly threatened Armenians “who feel so free in Turkey. What should we do now? Should we start a hunt for Armenians on the streets of Kars?”

The Ankara initiative, in the petition I mentioned above, calls on prosecutors to open an investigation into this hate speech but also made an important call on those political parties with Armenian deputies to condemn these racist remarks.

The initiative also invites those three parties to enact a hate crime law to handle such crimes more actively.

Don’t think we don’t have a law punishing hate speech. We have Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which clearly and absolutely punishes any form of hate speech.

However, when it comes to minorities, prosecutors are completely blind to hate speech. Those prosecutors who are so vigilant against any alleged insult towards the prime minister or president became totally inactive in situations of textbook examples of racist hate speech.

Sending three Armenians to Parliament is definitely one thing. But changing the atmosphere in Turkey, eradicating and effectively fighting against hate speech is another.

Whether having Armenian deputies would make these political parties more sensitive towards hate speech and racism is an important question for Turkey. Their silence towards these racist remarks is not a promising sign, though.