Report Reveals Hate Speech in Turkey's Media

Hrant Dink Foundation released its quarterly report on hate speech in media for Winter 2012. A 46 page long document divided in 3 chapters, the report revealed hate speech on religious and minority groups, women and LGBT people, and media criticism. 

According to the report, Yeni Akit, Milli Gazete, Yeni Mesaj, Yeniçağ and Star were listed as the most hate speech producing national newspapers in Turkey. 

The report has been compiled from various news articles and columns which were classified according to the doers, targets and methods of hate speech. 

A variety of issues were citied in the report resulting hate speech including Turkey-NATO relations, Turkey's role on Great Middle East Project, attacks on Gazans and incidents related to the release of Innocence Muslims movie trailer. 

The report revealed that the hate speech trends throughout the previous reports in 2012 resumed in the last period.

In the last quarter of 2012, Jewish and Armenian communities marked the most targeted groups in Turkey, especially in newspaper columns. 

"In Fall 2012 report, hate speech on Kurdish people was relatively on a minimum level. However, it is possible to suggest that hate speech on Kurdish people might have been hidden behind an elaborate discourse, as we observe that some newspapers make a distinction between 'good' and 'bad' Kurdish people," the report said. 

On LGBT issues, the report identified several categories of hate speech with some considering homosexuality identical as "incest". (AS/BM)