Nationalist bias in Turkish official discourse on hate speech: a Rawlsian criticism

DEVECİ C., BİNBUĞA KINIK B. N.

TURKISH STUDIES, cilt.20, sa.1, ss.26-48, 2019 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 20 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2019
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/14683849.2018.1479961
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.26-48
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Hate speech, nationalism, freedom of speech, political justice, minorities, Hrant Dink, Turkish politics
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This article analyzes the approach in Turkey on hate speech by evaluating legal regulations, decisions and public responses. We argue that the Turkish case cultivates neither a lenient, nor a restrictive response to hate speech, because a strong nationalist bias seems to be at work in interpreting, penalizing or allowing hate speech. The peculiarity of the Turkish case stems from a prejudice that hate speech might be conducted only against the nation, unity of the state, or the principles of regime, rather than against vulnerable groups or identities. By focusing on the Hrant Dink case among others we try to demonstrate the most striking example of this prejudice.