Within April 6-12, 2020, three articles that generate hate speech were selected from print media. You can find three articles that contain hate speech against French, refugees, and Syrians as well as the analyses written about them below.¹

1.  In the article published in Çukurova Metropol Gazetesi with the title “Unlicensed “mask” trap”, the incident is reported with an emphasis on the nationality of the suspect. The article associates Syrians with crime, reinforcing negative judgments about them.

2. The article published in Yeni Akit with the title “The French robs the dead and the living alike” reports that the Macron administration uses cold storages houses because morgues are full and sells spots from them to the relatives of the people died from corona. “Inhuman practices of the French, who promote themselves as the epitome of civilization, is shocking. While the French are failing at the fight against corona with their collapsed healthcare system, the crisis deepens as more than thousand people die every day. Unable to find spot in the morgues due to surging mortality rates, the French government turned cold storages houses into morgues.” While the article criticizes the Macron administration in general, these criticisms are attributed to French identity and negative sentiments about the French are fomented.

3.  The article published in Erzurum Günebakış Gazetesi with the title “Coughing refugee caused concern” reports the image of Afghan refugees shared by MHP Iğdır MP Sinan Oğan and the related claims. The article reinforces negative judgments about refugees, considers them as a public health “threat” and dangerously provokes the reader against refugees as we see in the following statements: “Call to fellows in Erzurum: Report if you see them”, “Officials to whom we speak about the article concerning the potential threat warned the citizens, saying ‘Call the police if you see refugees on the road.’ An anonymous official said, ‘Travel ban is now effective in Erzurum due to coronavirus pandemic. The police and the gendarmerie are imposing extensive measures. Some of the refugees on the picture may be sick. We should be very careful. We don’t have a flux of refugees now, but there might be in the future. Since refugees enter the country illegally, they can be everywhere. Our citizens must be on watch for such situations. They should call the police if they see refugees walking on the roads.’”

^{1. Within the scope of the media monitoring work focusing on hate speech, all national newspapers and around 500 local newspapers are monitored based on pre-determined keywords (e.g. Traitor, apostate, refugee, Christian, Jewish, separatist, etc.) via the media monitoring center. While the main focus has been hate speech on the basis of national, ethnic and religious identities; sexist and homophobic discourses are also examined as part of the monitoring work.}