Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
In yet another troubling sign of Turkey’s increasingly partisan judiciary — dominated by Islamists and far-right nationalists — the country’s top appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man who publicly vowed to kill Jews, Americans and Kurds.
In a ruling issued on March 24, the Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargıtay) overturned a lower court’s verdict that had found the defendant guilty of inciting hatred and hostility under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code. The high court claimed that the defendant’s online comments did not pose a “clear and imminent danger” to public safety and were considered to be examples of free speech.
The case dates back to July 10, 2010, when the defendant, unidentified in the court’s ruling, posted a highly inflammatory comment under a news article, accusing American and Israeli intelligence services of fueling ethnic tensions in Turkey. He openly expressed violent intentions toward Kurds, Americans and Jews.
“I have now reached a level where I have the potential — regardless of whether they support the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] or not — to attack all Kurds around me, with a psychopathic urge for revenge,” he wrote. “I’m sure many Turks will soon feel the same way. … You will have us slaughter all the Kurds living in areas of Istanbul. But know this: After we slaughter them, it will be the Jews and Americans’ turn.”
He further alleged that the CIA and Mossad monitor online comments under news articles, accused both countries of backing PKK terrorism in Turkey and issued a chilling warning: “Don’t forget, there are many Jewish businessmen in Turkey. Act accordingly.”
The Kocaeli 1st Criminal Court of First Instance convicted the man in 2012, sentencing him to five months in prison under Article 216. However, the sentence was suspended under a judicial probation agreement. The case was reactivated in 2016, when the defendant committed another offense during his probation, prompting the court to reinstate the original sentence in 2019.
Following years of legal wrangling between the lower and appellate courts, the Supreme Court of Appeals ultimately reversed the conviction on both procedural and substantive grounds. It argued that the lower court had failed to prove the comments constituted a direct and concrete threat to public order.
“For a conviction under Article 216, it must be proven that the defendant’s expressions caused a clear and present danger to public safety, based on concrete facts. No such evidence or finding exists in this case,” the court ruled.
Astonishingly, despite the suspect’s explicit threat to kill Kurds, Jews and Americans, the high court deemed the evidence insufficient for conviction. The court also cited a clerical error in the original ruling — a wrong date was listed — as further justification for dismissing the case.
The ruling by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals in the case involving a suspect who vowed to kill Jews, Kurds and Americans:
This verdict, which set a legal precedent, sends a chilling message across Turkey’s judiciary: that hate speech and threats of violence against Jews and Americans may be protected under the right to freedom of expression in today’s Turkey.
The ruling aligns with the political climate fostered by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist government, which has frequently used anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric to galvanize nationalist and religious sentiment.
In an unprecedented move in modern Turkish history, the Turkish president has branded Israel as a national security threat, claiming it seeks to annex Turkish territory — without presenting any evidence to justify either the alleged threat or the irredentist goals of the Israeli government. Erdogan further described Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by both the US and the EU — as heroic resistance fighters battling not only for Palestine but also for Turkish territories.
The decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals does not come as a surprise, given the rising tide of antisemitism in Turkey, which has been openly encouraged by both Erdogan’s inner circle and his far-right political allies. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Erdogan’s closest ally, wields significant influence over the judiciary, law enforcement and intelligence services. The MHP frequently engages in unsubstantiated conspiracy theories involving Jews and accuses the US and Israel of plotting against Turkey.
The contrast between the court’s leniency in this case and its harsh treatment of Erdogan’s critics is stark. While threats of mass violence are excused under the guise of free speech, peaceful dissent or criticism of the government often results in swift and severe punishment. Turkish courts have upheld convictions against journalists, academics and opposition figures for merely expressing dissenting views, even when no incitement to violence was involved.
Between 2014 and 2017, Erdoğan’s government purged over 4,000 judges and prosecutors — roughly 30 percent of the entire judiciary at the time — effectively transforming the judicial system into a political tool. Since then, the government has appointed around 15,000 new judges and prosecutors, nearly all drawn from the ideological ranks of Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally, the MHP, in a sweeping effort to stack the Turkish judiciary.
Since then, the justice system has systematically targeted government opponents while shielding radical Islamists and ultranationalists from prosecution.
The high court’s decision to overturn a conviction for inciting genocide-level violence underscores the dangerous erosion of the rule of law in Turkey — where freedom of expression is increasingly reserved for those who incite hatred, not those who speak truth to power.
