What is the relationship between speech and violence? How can we define hate speech? Where does freedom of expression end and hate speech begin? Why and how is hate speech generated in the Turkish media? Who is the ‘other’ in Turkey? Which groups are most targeted by hate speech in print media? How does the language of the media feed social polarization? How can we fight against hate speech? What can we do against hate speech in the new media channels? Is the solution to ban hate speech?

In the book which is published in Turkish and English,Tanıl Bora, with a more conceptual and reflective tone, discussed the power of words in his article. Bekir Ağırdır, based on his research and observations, drafted an outline of the discriminatory tendencies in Turkey in the article. Arus Yumul has discussed the historical and social background of the hostility towards the unchanging ‘others’ of Turkey. Yıldız Tar has how the media hides and devoices LGBTİ+ individuals. Aras Türay wrote a discussion article on the slippery legal ground regarding the relationship between freedom of speech and hate speech.  Faruk Bildirici discussed the discourse strategies of the media through his professional observations as a media ombudsman. Ülkü Doğanay drafted the polarization strategies on the ‘refugee’ discourse of the media. İdil Engindeniz contributed the book with a review of conceptual discussions on the ‘discourse’. İrem Az, Pınar Ensari and Şeyma Özkan from the current and former project team analyzed and compiled the data collected through our media monitoring activities that started in 2009 in two articles. The article presents a review of the data collected over 10 years, as well as a monitoring study and a narrative of the project. This narrative is conveyed in 3 periods divided according to the methodology history of the project. Lastly, the book preserved space to translate an article that is based on the practical strategies to counter hateful narrative, which has been written by Rachel Brown and Laura Livingston, two civil society professionals from OverZero. 

Each article, tackling hate speech in its various aspects from the perspectives of different disciplines, puts the issue of hate speech into a social and historical context and contributes to the fight against the language of hate, strengthening our hopes for coexistence. 

For further information about the book please click here.