NESAM portal for hate speech and discrimination in use

The Anti-Hate Crimes and Anti-Discrimination portal was inaugurated. Turks living abroad can report crimes such as hate speech and discrimination.

Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) opened the Anti-Hate Crimes and Anti-Discrimination (NESAM) portal. Turks living abroad can report crimes such as hate speech and discrimination. The data on this subject will be published, at an introductory meeting.

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkiye Serdar Çam, Chairman of YTB Abdullah Eren, Chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission Deputy Hakan Çavuşoğlu, Chief Ombudsman Şeref Malkoç, President of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkiye Muharrem Kılıç, academics, representatives from ministries and NGOs attended the meeting.

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkiye Serdar Çam in speech stated that there are examples of hate crimes and discrimination.

Emphasizing that Turkiye and YTB remind Europe of their values ​​in the fight against discrimination and hate crime, Çam said, "These efforts will have direct and direct contributions. In the next period, an important monitoring system will be established at the point of such attacks and discrimination, and it will be instrumental in preventing certain threats."
Stating that when people enter the process of ideological polarization and militancy, studies like NESAM will not be enough to stop them, Çam also emphasized the importance of cooperation between states.

Çam also added that Turkiye's struggle against radicalism and organizations that use Islam should set an example for Europe.

"Victims of hate speech fear there will be no effective investigation"

Hakan Çavuşoğlu, Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission, also stated in his speech that although people all over the world agree on issues related to discrimination and racism, the parties always blame the other side.

Noting that despite the efforts on this issue, there has been an increase in rights violations rather than positive progress, Çavuşoğlu said, "Today, the hate crimes and Islamophobic treatment that our more than 6 million citizens living abroad and Muslim communities around the world are subjected to, unfortunately, does not decrease".

Explaining that there is a double standard on the issue of Islamophobia, Çavuşoğlu said, "Especially, we continue to witness that some European politicians use it as a domestic policy tool, although there is a consensus on hate crimes in the international community".

Noting that the passive attitude of the judiciary and administrative institutions in various countries against Islamophobia and hate crimes, Çavuşoğlu said, "Especially in Europe, the attitude of our citizens in the face of hate speech and crimes because they are worried that there will not be an effective investigation, they are worried that something will happen to them".

Çavuşoğlu also emphasized that Islamophobia is not defined as a separate type of crime in many penal laws.

"60 percent of attacks against Muslims are attributed to lone wolves who are not affiliated with the organization"

YTB ​​President Abdullah Eren made a presentation introducing the NESAM portal and explaining the data obtained by YTB on discrimination and Islamophobia crimes in Europe.

Stating that there is a section on the portal where citizens living abroad can report the attacks they are exposed to. Eren also said that a confirmation mechanism has been established against false notifications.

Eren stated that the report on hate speech, discrimination and Islamophobia crimes in 2021 will be announced next month. He also shared information from the report that took place in 2020 and was announced last year.

YTB Chairman Eren also said that instead of investigating the organization's connections in attacks against foreigners and Muslims, investigations were carried out that showed the criminal as a "lone wolf" and used the following statements:

"Despite the serious casualties, the attacks, as in the NSU murders, are seen as individual cases and the links to the organization are left without adequate examination.

Attacks such as the New Zealand and Hanau attacks are attributed to individuals and forensic investigations are concluded without revealing links to organizations, aiding and abetting people, within the state or within the police.

However, we think that this process also reveals that we are faced with an international anti-Islamic terrorism that requires a different global struggle.

The increase in far-right terrorist attacks in the West has been 250 percent in the last 5 years.

There is a 700 percent increase in deaths from these attacks.

The target of the extreme right is Muslims more than anyone else, and unfortunately, 60 percent of all these attacks are attributed to lone wolves who are not affiliated with the organization."

Eren also included the attacks against Muslims and Islamic institutions in Europe in his presentation.

Stating that more than half of the 389 attacks targeting Turkish citizens in Europe in 2020 took place in Germany, Eren noted that according to the data of the German Interior Ministry, there are 2 anti-Islamic attacks every day in the country.

Eren stated that 36 people were injured and 5 people died in these attacks, adding that there were 25 cases of arson.

Pointing out that the number of unfounded bomb notices against mosques before Friday prayers was 12 in 2020, Eren said, "Friday prayers in our mosques were interrupted. Not only is it interrupted, the mosque is being evacuated, the police with dogs is scanning the mosque before the prayer." he said.

Attacks against Muslims fall under the category of petty crime or racism

Noting that the rate of reporting to the relevant authorities about the hate speech and crimes that citizens are exposed to is low, Eren stated that only 1 out of every 5 people make a report and underlined that this rate is around 3-4 percent in countries such as Poland, where the Muslim and Turkish population is low.

Chairman Eren pointed out that while the number of attacks reported to NGOs in the last 5 years was at least 15 thousand in the 5 largest EU countries; this number was 206 in the last 8 years according to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.

Eren said, "According to the data of the German Ministry of Interior, the far-right crime record is about 19 thousand, and the OSCE figure is around 10 thousand. Because the OSCE does not record these cases as a crime, since hate speech is not a crime in every country." made its assessment.

Pointing out that NGOs in Germany are ineffective in reporting anti-Islamic crimes, he said that some crimes in this direction are recorded under the general heading of simple crime or racism.
He continued by sayıng "Statistically, when it is put under the category of racism, we are also likely to simply miss out on anti-Muslims. It is of great importance that victims who complain also insist that the crime be recorded in the category of anti-Muslim racism." he said.

Eren drew the attention to the fact that 789 attacks against Muslims were recorded in France in 2019, according to NGO records, while this number was 204 in police records. On the other hand in Austria this number was 1402 according to NGOs, but only 16 in the police.

After the speeches, a "Search Conference" was held with the participation of lawyers, academics and NGO representatives from Europe.