IT’S TIME FOR US TO MEET HATE CRIMES (Turkey, opinion)

By Sedat Ergin, columnist for the daily Hürriyet

8/1/2010- Attacks against Romas in the town of Selendi in Manisa set a striking example of how citizens in Turkey can be victims of dangerous aggression just because of their identity in the year of 2010. The Manisa Governor’s Office found a solution by sending Romas away to the town of Gördes. This is an incident of “modern deportation.”

International literature develops quickly 
Likewise, we have see attacks against Kurds in western provinces and towns in recent years. And in all these attacks, prejudice against different ethnic identities plays a certain role. In fact, certain identities are being attacked. Crimes committed through similar motives are termed as “hate crimes” in Western democracies. For social peace, this is a quite dangerous category of crimes because in the end people coming from different backgrounds feel aggrieved. International literature of hate crimes is developing quickly. Fighting such crimes becomes international as increasing numbers of countries pass special laws to punish hate crimes.

Radical change in social culture a must 
Hate crimes are seen in such vast areas. As the feeling of belongingness is of importance, attacks against religious, ethnic, sexual or any identities form hate crimes. Harassment or murder of a transvestite because of his sexual preference as well as insulting a member of minority groups just for his/her belongingness are also examples of hate crimes. In this perspective, following Jews, Muslims have become victims of hate crimes in Europe more and more every day. It is needless to say that Turkey does not have a good record in the area. We are living in a country where the murders of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink and of Italian priest Andreas Santoro took place. Turkey should also take solid steps to correct its records on hate crimes as it strives for democracy. For that, the concept of hate crime and social awareness against it need to settle in first, as we radically change our social culture and reflexes in that direction. Hate crimes now happen to be the case in Turkey. For instance, the latest progress report released by the European Union criticizes the “expression of hatred” against the Jewish community in Turkey following Israel’s Gaza offensive last year.

The government’s duty 
The Organization of Security and Cooperation for Europe, or OSCE, is the international community address for fight with hate crimes. In the frame of OSCE, Turkey has so many obligations to fulfill in the subject, among which is training of police forces and other civil servants against the crime. Review of legislations, encouraging civil society to monitor hate crimes, assistance to the victims and keeping track records of hate crimes are among others. The Justice Ministry regularly reports to the OSCE. In fact, articles in the Constitution and in many laws, such as Articles 122 and 216 in the Turkish Penal Code, introduce penalty for instigating a grudge and hatred among people. But procedures in force seem not dissuasive enough. The only positive development recently is efforts to set up nongovernmental platforms against hate crimes (www.nefretme.org). To protect social peace and to alleviate democratic standards Turkey should place hate crimes on the agenda. Steps in this direction are critical to show how democratic the government can be. For instance, a first step could be formation of a parliamentary commission on fighting against hate crimes.
© The Hurriyet Daily News