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REVEALING TOO MUCH: INFO BELONGING TO ARMENIAN GROUPS ONLINE
Today's Zaman
Nov 29 2012
Turkey
On Nov. 24, 25 and 26, International Association to Fight Unfounded
Armenian Allegations (ASİM-DER) head Göksel Gulbey published the
street addresses and contact information of Armenian foundations,
schools and churches active in Turkey via his Twitter account.
Try to imagine what it would mean if a neo-Nazi -- or any other
extreme right-wing organization -- in Germany were to do the same with
details about the addresses and telephone numbers of Jewish synagogues,
foundations, schools and so on.
Actually, no matter where in the world it happens, when racist
organizations get hold of contact information belonging to vulnerable
minority groups and then purposefully disclose it, it always means
the same thing: Go and "beat people up, hit them or at the very least,
make them very uncomfortable and worried."
Prior to the release of this contact information, Göksel Gulbey was
involved in a series of incidents targeting Armenians. In fact, in one
case, Gulbey made a formal complaint to the Interior Ministry about
the number of Armenian foundations active in Turkey (57), asking in his
complaint, "Is there really a need for this many Armenian foundations?"
Another incident in the past involves the fake execution by Göksel
Gulbey and other ASİM-DER leaders of a plaster model of Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan. When the association's activities are
examined more closely, it in fact appears that their problem lies
more in the actual existence of Armenians rather than any "Armenian
allegations."
In democratic societies the world around, there are generally two
limitations placed on freedom of expression. One of these has to do
with open invitations to violence, and the other with racist rhetoric
that spreads hatred and enmity targeting specific groups. Turkey's
history is filled with incidents in which minority groups were targeted
for attacks. And while debates may rage about what the limitations
to freedom of expression are, and what certain rhetoric means in
practical terms, you cannot overlook such a history and its legacy.
You would not have to know much about Turkish history to understand
that addresses and telephone numbers belonging to Armenian
organizations, when published on the Web by extremist rightist
organizations, turn people into targets, and that this was in fact
the goal. Our prosecutors should move into immediate action and start
investigations into the matter, but I have never witnessed the laws
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) used this way.
As I have written before in this column, the application of former
Article 312, the infamous article of the TCK on provoking hatred and
enmity, now Article 216, in cases in which people encourage hatred and
enmity against minorities and other vulnerable groups has proven an
exception rather than a rule. Despite a history marked by frequent
painful episodes of this type, prosecutors and judges ignore and
overlook just how serious the results of rhetoric, expressions and
announcements can be when they target certain groups.
They do not want to understand the potential seriousness of these
situations. They do not want to see that words or rhetoric aimed at
the majority are in fact much different in a practical sense from
words or rhetoric targeting minority groups, and that these things
can lead to very different results. At this point, there are some
civil society organizations preparing to open legal cases against
the above-mentioned use of Twitter. I do hope that the legal system
will spring into action here. For as long as we are unable to prevent
rhetoric on hatred that targets minorities, we will not be able to
prevent hate crimes. And this is the truth, one which we know from
a history marked by these episodes.
Today's Zaman
Nov 29 2012
Turkey
On Nov. 24, 25 and 26, International Association to Fight Unfounded
Armenian Allegations (ASİM-DER) head Göksel Gulbey published the
street addresses and contact information of Armenian foundations,
schools and churches active in Turkey via his Twitter account.
Try to imagine what it would mean if a neo-Nazi -- or any other
extreme right-wing organization -- in Germany were to do the same with
details about the addresses and telephone numbers of Jewish synagogues,
foundations, schools and so on.
Actually, no matter where in the world it happens, when racist
organizations get hold of contact information belonging to vulnerable
minority groups and then purposefully disclose it, it always means
the same thing: Go and "beat people up, hit them or at the very least,
make them very uncomfortable and worried."
Prior to the release of this contact information, Göksel Gulbey was
involved in a series of incidents targeting Armenians. In fact, in one
case, Gulbey made a formal complaint to the Interior Ministry about
the number of Armenian foundations active in Turkey (57), asking in his
complaint, "Is there really a need for this many Armenian foundations?"
Another incident in the past involves the fake execution by Göksel
Gulbey and other ASİM-DER leaders of a plaster model of Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan. When the association's activities are
examined more closely, it in fact appears that their problem lies
more in the actual existence of Armenians rather than any "Armenian
allegations."
In democratic societies the world around, there are generally two
limitations placed on freedom of expression. One of these has to do
with open invitations to violence, and the other with racist rhetoric
that spreads hatred and enmity targeting specific groups. Turkey's
history is filled with incidents in which minority groups were targeted
for attacks. And while debates may rage about what the limitations
to freedom of expression are, and what certain rhetoric means in
practical terms, you cannot overlook such a history and its legacy.
You would not have to know much about Turkish history to understand
that addresses and telephone numbers belonging to Armenian
organizations, when published on the Web by extremist rightist
organizations, turn people into targets, and that this was in fact
the goal. Our prosecutors should move into immediate action and start
investigations into the matter, but I have never witnessed the laws
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) used this way.
As I have written before in this column, the application of former
Article 312, the infamous article of the TCK on provoking hatred and
enmity, now Article 216, in cases in which people encourage hatred and
enmity against minorities and other vulnerable groups has proven an
exception rather than a rule. Despite a history marked by frequent
painful episodes of this type, prosecutors and judges ignore and
overlook just how serious the results of rhetoric, expressions and
announcements can be when they target certain groups.
They do not want to understand the potential seriousness of these
situations. They do not want to see that words or rhetoric aimed at
the majority are in fact much different in a practical sense from
words or rhetoric targeting minority groups, and that these things
can lead to very different results. At this point, there are some
civil society organizations preparing to open legal cases against
the above-mentioned use of Twitter. I do hope that the legal system
will spring into action here. For as long as we are unable to prevent
rhetoric on hatred that targets minorities, we will not be able to
prevent hate crimes. And this is the truth, one which we know from
a history marked by these episodes.