Jews were the most targeted group in hate speech in the
Turkish media in the most recent period, according
to a report prepared by the Istanbul-based Hrant Dink Foundation.
The foundation’s report was based on local and national
media, determining a total of 1,910 columns and news reports targeting ethnic
and religious groups in Turkey.
The report, prepared as part of the foundation’s Media
Watch on Hate Speech project encompassing the May to August period, found 2,466
examples of hate speech in the examined media outlets.
Some 788 of the texts including hate speech were published
in the national press while 1,122 were in local media.
According to the foundation, 493 hate speech examples
targeted Jews, while 472 targeted Syrians. Greeks were third on the list with
256 examples, followed by Armenians, Cypriot Greeks and Turkish Greeks, and
Christians.
According to the report, the highest number of hate speech
items was found in articles and columns regarding Israel.
Tension over the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem prompted a
number of media outlets to demonise Jews as a collective group, with the term
“Jews” often being used in place of “Israeli state,” “Israel” or “Israeli
Defence Forces,” the report stated.
It added that Jews were also presented as a “secret power”
and “threats against Turkey” in many conspiracy theories reflected in the
Turkish media.
Many reports and columns referred to Jewishness as an
insult, with Jewish identity “attributed to many institutions and individuals
in a negative context,” the report stated.
