Challenging Discrimination in Different Areas: Turkey
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the editors
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Preface
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction: General Information about Discrimination in Turkey (Nihan AKINCILAR KÖSEOĞLU and Dilhan APAK)
- 1: Gender-Based Violence as a Form of Discrimination: Reconsidering Violence against Women in Turkey (Aslı TELSEREN)
- 2: Instances of Hate Speech Directed toward LGBTIQ+ People on Social Media Platforms in Turkey and Measures Taken against Discrimination (Aysel ÇETİNKAYA, Zeynep Benan DONDURUCU and Gamze YETKİN CILIZOĞLU)
- 3: Digital Society and Togetherness against Discrimination: Analyzing Reactions in Turkish Tweets on George Floyd Protest (Aysun EYREK)
- 4: Climate Change as a New Dimension of the Economic Discrimination (İrem YALKI)
- 5: Gender Discrimination in Turkish Sporting Press: Examples of Fotomaç and Fanatik Newspapers (Mehmet ÖZÇAĞLAYAN and Mehmet BÜYÜKAFŞAR)
- 6: Political Discourse on Syrian Refugees in Turkey (Merve Hazer YIĞIT and Can UYAR)
- 7: Patterns of “Othering Alevis” in the Context of Identity Politics in Turkey (Özlem İNGÜN KARKIŞ)
- 8: A Scientometric Analysis of Gender-Based Discrimination Studies in the Construction Industry (Pinar IRLAYICI CAKMAK)
- 9: HIV/AIDS Mass Media Coverage and HIV-Related Discrimination in Turkey (Sandy ÇAĞLIYOR)
- 10: The Dimensions and Politics of Discrimination against Syrian Refugees in Turkey (Şirin DUYGULU)
- 11: Fight, Flight or Dance All Night: Turkish TikTok as an Anti-discriminative Space (Uğur Cevdet PANAYIRCI and Atinc GURCAY)
- 12: Discriminating Women: The Political Front in Turkey (Zeynep SELÇUK)
- Contributor Biographies
- Editor Biographies
List of Abbreviations
AIDS |
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome |
AKP |
Justice and Development Party |
ARDL |
Autoregressive Distributed Lag Bound Test |
BBC |
British Broadcasting Corporation |
BLM |
The Black Lives Matter Movement |
CDC |
Center for Disease Control |
CEDAW |
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women |
CFCS |
Chlorofluorocarbons |
CH4 |
Methane |
CHP |
Republican People’s Party |
CO |
Carbon Monoxide |
CO2 |
Carbon Dioxide |
ECHR |
European Court of Human Rights |
EU |
European Union |
GDP |
Gross Domestic Product |
GHG |
Greenhouse Gas |
GNA |
Grand National Assembly |
Grevio |
Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence |
H2O |
Water Vapor |
HAART |
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy |
HDP |
Peoples’ Democratic Party |
HIV |
Human Immunodeficiency Virus |
HSYK |
High Council of Judges and Prosecutors |
ICTs |
Information and Communications Technologies |
ILO |
International Labor Organization |
IMF |
International Monetary Fund |
IPCC |
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
IPU |
Inter-Parliamentary Union |
IYIP |
GOOD Party |
LDA |
Latent Dirichlet Allocation |
LGBTIQ+ |
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, and Queer |
MHP |
Nationalist Movement Party |
MMWR |
|
MP |
Member of Parliament |
N2O |
Nitrous Oxide |
NAWIC |
National Association of Women in Construction |
NHRIs |
National Human Rights Institutions |
O3 |
Tropospheric Ozone |
OECD |
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
OHCHR |
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |
SNSs |
Social Network Sites |
TT |
Trending Topic |
TurkStat |
Turkey Statistical Institute |
UN |
United Nations |
UNHCR |
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
WEF |
World Economic Forum |
WW2 |
World War 2 |
Nihan AKINCILAR KÖSEOĞLU1 and Dilhan APAK2
Introduction: General Information about Discrimination in Turkey
There is no official data on the composition of the population of Turkey on the basis of ethnicity, denomination, or mother tongue. The 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty granted minority status only to non-Muslim communities: the Rum, Armenian, and Jewish communities. However, Kurds, Roma, Syrians, Alevis, Rum, Armenians, Jews, and Syriacs can be considered minorities in Turkey as they are “different” from the Sunni Muslim Turkish majority. In addition, Turkish society harbors widespread gender-based discrimination toward women and LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, and Queer) people.
The government has recently expressed interest in addressing discrimination in education, employment, and health services through meetings with representatives of highly discriminated against groups in Turkey, that is, the Roma, LGBTIQ+ people, and non-Muslim minorities.
1 Main Legislation throughout the World
Though discrimination does not have a direct definition within the international agreements, it finds a place in Article 2 and Article 26 of the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights; Article 2 of the UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and Article 1 of its Additional Protocol No.12; Article 21 (nondiscrimination) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; Articles 1 and 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights; and Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. In all of these conventions, the state parties are responsible for supplying the relevant rights to their citizens “without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status” (European ←17 | 18→Convention on Human Rights, 1950). In addition to these articles are Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination prohibit discrimination. Moreover, the EU accepted the Racial Equality Directive on June 29, 2000, which focuses on “the equal access to and supply of goods and services” (Council Directive 2000/43/EC, 2000).
Along with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its state parties, the ECHR of the Council of Europe and the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) of the European Union are the main monitoring bodies of human rights in member states.
2 Main Legislation in Turkey
In terms of international antidiscrimination legislation, Turkey is a party of the ECHR, the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Since Turkey is not a member of the EU, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has not been implemented.
Article 10 of the Turkish Constitution provides, “Everyone is equal before the law without distinction as to language, race, colour, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect, or any such grounds” (Paragraph added on May 7, 2004; Act No. 5170) and “Men and women have equal rights. The State has the obligation to ensure that this equality exists in practice” (Sentence added on September 12, 2010; Act No. 5982) (Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, 1982). In addition, “Measures taken for this purpose shall not be interpreted as contrary to the principle of equality” (Paragraph added on September 12, 2010; Act No. 5982) and “Measures to be taken for children, the elderly, disabled people, widows and orphans of martyrs as well as for the invalid and veterans shall not be considered as violation of the principle of equality. No privilege shall be granted to any individual, family, group or class. State organs and administrative authorities are obliged to act in compliance with the principle of equality before the law in all their proceedings” (Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, 1982) are provided. In March 2014, hate crime was added for the first time to Article 122 (discriminatory behavior) of the Turkish Criminal Code. And in 2016, antidiscrimination legislation was adopted for ←18 | 19→the first time in Turkey. Even though the Turkish Criminal Code, the Law on Persons with Disabilities, the Labor Law, and the Law on National Education have some provisions against discrimination in accordance with EU directives, this new legislation has a direct nondiscrimination discourse. However, Turkish law lacks material on sexual discrimination. LGBTIQ+ people still face daily humiliation.
3 Main Equality Bodies in Turkey
The Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey was established on April 6, 2016 with legislation number 6701 (Türkiye İnsan Hakları ve Eşitlik Kurumu Kanunu no.6701, 2016). This body was established in line with the NHRIs of EU countries and its candidates, and it became the main human rights and equality body of Turkey. With law 6701, an antidiscrimination legislation was also created for the first time using language that was a clear repetition of antidiscrimination articles of the ECHR and the Turkish Constitution. According to Article 3, everyone is entitled to equal benefits from rights and liberties granted by law, and discrimination based on “sex, race, colour, language, religion, belief, sect, philosophical and political view, ethnic origin, wealth, birth, marital status, health, disability and age is prohibited” (Türkiye İnsan Hakları ve Eşitlik Kurumu Kanunu no.6701, 2016). According to Article 5, the scope of this prohibition of discrimination encompasses the areas of education, the judiciary, armed forces, health, transportation, communication, social security, social services, social aid, sport, accommodation, culture, tourism, and other public institutions (Türkiye İnsan Hakları ve Eşitlik Kurumu Kanunu no.6701, 2016). The Article also gives some exceptions in detail, but in general it is Turkey’s attempt to revise some past wrongs.
Anyone can apply to the Institution with a claim of violation of the prohibition against discrimination. If the Institution determines a violation of the law, an administrative fine from 1000TL to 15000TL may be charged for public institutions.
4 What Is the Importance of This Topic?
Discrimination is a concept that has been discussed in the academic research of countries that face the issue for many years. In other words, when discrimination is detailed not only in terms of concept but also in practice, it becomes possible to encounter a serious reaction. However, concepts or words should be researched not only etymologically but also from an objective perspective, ←19 | 20→using methods and tools such as case studies, historical documents, surveys, or in-depth interviews. Only in this way it is possible to make a unique contribution to the literature. This study aims to evaluate the issue of discrimination in Turkey from different point of views.
Details
- Pages
- 274
- Year
- 2021
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783631854556
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9783631854563
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9783631829714
- DOI
- 10.3726/b18411
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2021 (September)
- Published
- Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2021. 274 pp., 32 fig. b/w, 27 tables.
