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  • ANKARA: 'Hate Rhetoric' In Turkish Press Shows Small Decline

    'HATE RHETORIC' IN TURKISH PRESS SHOWS SMALL DECLINE

    Hurriyet
    April 29 2010
    Turkey

    The Turkish press has shown improvement over the past three years
    in avoiding the use of 'hate rhetoric' that can lead to hate crimes,
    new research reveals. According to the findings, hate rhetoric in the
    media is most often based on ethnic issues or religious convictions.

    Experts say a clear law defining hate crimes must be endorsed as soon
    as possible The Turkish press has exhibited greater awareness about
    publishing news that could fall into the category of hate rhetoric
    or hate crimes since the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
    Dink, a group of experts has concluded.

    According to their research, which was made available to the public
    Thursday, most of the "hate rhetoric" published in Turkey is based
    on ethnic background and religious beliefs.

    After scanning the past 10 years of news in 20 daily papers, the
    researchers chose 10 stories that they considered the most striking
    examples of inciting hatred toward a specific group.

    "Hate rhetoric leads to hate crimes and the media plays a critical
    role in this sense, just as it plays a critical role in broadening
    the use of positive language," said Cengiz Algan, the head of the
    Association of Social Change, which conducted the research.

    A 2005 headline from daily Star, "Traitors are captured," was
    picked to exemplify hate rhetoric. (The paper is owned today by a
    different media group than it was at that time.) The news concerned
    two children, ages 12 and 14, who were taken into custody by the
    police for allegedly setting a Turkish flag on fire at the March 21
    commemoration of Nevruz, a celebration of the arrival of spring in
    many parts of the Middle East.

    In recent years, Nevruz has taken on a political connotation in parts
    of Turkey, with certain media outlets and interest groups representing
    it as a politicized event celebrated mostly by members of the country's
    Kurdish population.

    According to the research, hate rhetoric against certain groups shows
    a tendency to increase during specific time periods. In addition to
    March 21, where there is often aggressive rhetoric exhibited against
    Kurds, anti-Armenian rhetoric often becomes stronger and more frequent
    leading up to April 24, a date of mourning for Armenians.

    Last April 24 provided a reason for hope, however, according to Cengiz
    Aktar from Istanbul's BahceÅ~_ehir University, who noted that a group
    of intellectuals held remembrance ceremonies in Turkey for the first
    time for the alleged 1915 killings of Armenians.

    "Although mainstream media tried to exploit the ceremonies that were
    held at four different places, it fell behind the state this time. The
    approach of security forces was more neutral compared to that of some
    media outlets," said Aktar, who was on the consultative board of the
    research and is also a columnist for the Daily News.

    Aktar said there has been improvement in avoiding the use of hate
    rhetoric since the murder of Dink, as well as the murder of Christian
    missionaries in Malatya in 2007.

    Other types of hate rhetoric are based on gender and sexual
    orientation, according to the researchers, who picked two new stories
    about transvestites among their 10 examples of media reports that
    incited hatred. Another news story about a female German politician
    was given as an example of hate rhetoric based on gender.

    Minimizing the use of hate rhetoric

    There is no law in Turkey that covers hate crimes, including Article
    122 of the Turkish Penal Code criminalizing discrimination, said
    Yasemin Ä°nceoglu from Istanbul's Galatasaray University. A member
    of the report's consultative board, Ä°nceoglu said hate crimes need
    to be clearly defined in the Turkish Penal Code and encouraged media
    outlets to start a joint campaign to avoid using hate rhetoric.

    "Internal education in the media is also important to raise awareness
    on the subject," she added.

    The report also encouraged readers to condemn news that incites hatred
    by various means, including making comments on stories posted online.

    Newspapers surveyed

    The newspapers surveyed by the researchers with the Association of
    Social Change were AkÅ~_am, Birgun, Cumhuriyet, Fotomac, Gundem,
    Hurriyet, Milli Gazete, Milliyet, Ortadogu, Posta, Radikal, Sabah,
    Star, Taraf, Turkiye, Vakit, Vatan, Yeni Å~^afak, Yenicag and Zaman.

    The consultative board

    Members of the consultative board for the research were Aydın
    Engin (journalist), AyÅ~_e Hur (historian/author), BagıÅ~_ Erten
    (journalist), Dr. Baskın Oran, Dr. Cengiz Aktar (BahceÅ~_ehir
    University,) IÅ~_ın Elicin (journalist,) Kerem Kabadayı (musician),
    Assistant Professor Kerem Rızvanoglu (Galatasaray University,) Sefa
    Kaplan (journalist), Professor Turgut Tarhanlı (Bilgi University),
    Professor Yasemin Ä°nceoglu (Galatasaray University) and Zeynep Tanbay
    (artist).
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