Abstract
Hate crimes against dissident groups are on the rise in Turkey, and political hate speech might have a triggering effect on this trend. In this study, the relationship between political hate speech against the Gulen Movement and the hate crimes perpetrated by ordinary people was examined through semi-structured interviews and surveys with victims. The findings suggest that a rise in political hate rhetoric targeting a given group might result in a corresponding rise in hate crimes committed against them, the effects of which have been largely overlooked in the current literature in the evolving Turkish context.
Highlights
Hate speech used by some politicians against certain ethnic, religious, or political groups has in recent years become part of an increasing number of political campaigns and rhetoric (Amnesty International 2017)
Quantitative Findings A one-way, repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the null hypothesis that there was no change in the frequency of hate crime victimization before the corruption probes in 2013, between the probes and the coup attempt in 2016, and thereafter
There was a significant increase in victimization frequency after each incident, which suggests that the participants experienced hate crimes more frequently
Summary
Hate speech used by some politicians against certain ethnic, religious, or political groups has in recent years become part of an increasing number of political campaigns and rhetoric (Amnesty International 2017). Publicized statements made by politically powerful individuals fan the flames of hate crimes, inciting members of the general public to victimize so-called “enemies” in a target group (Perry 2001). According to Walters, Brown, and Wiedlitzka (2016), theories in social psychology suggest that prejudiced attitudes toward the victim group and perceptions of threat correlate with the tendency to commit hate crimes. They concluded that lacking evidence shows how those attitudes and perceptions are shaped and how the mechanisms that lead to hate crimes operate
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