The breakdown below consists of police records related to the offences of "Prevention of the Exercise of Freedom of Belief, Thought and Conviction", and "Damaging Places of Worship and Cemeteries" (Articles 115 and 153 of Turkey’s Criminal Code). These records may include incidents that fall outside the OSCE's hate crime definition.
In 2024, the following training programmes were implemented in the Justice Academy of Türkiye for judges and prosecutors:
- 115 judges and prosecutors were trained on "Hate Crimes and Criminal Legislation in this Context" and on "International Standards and Related Legislation on Hate Crimes".
- 564 judges and prosecutors were offered a course on issues directly and indirectly related to hate crimes.
In 2024, the Training Department of the Ministry of Justice provided in-service training on human rights to 3,138 newly appointed clerks and 253 newly appointed social workers in Judicial Support and Victim Services, and remotely to 5,115 clerks serving in civil courts.
In 2024, a total of 22,065 personnel from the Ministry of Interior and its affiliated and related organizations completed training courses on combating hate speech and discrimination through its online training system.
The Directorate General for Criminal Records and Statistics at the Ministry of Justice is responsible for implementing activities under Goal 4.4.h of the Action Plan on Human Rights, as follows: "A database will be created and the proper collection of statistics will be secured with regard to criminal offences and misdemeanours involving hate and discrimination; to this end, the law enforcement and prosecution staff will be offered trainings." To this end, a needs assessment was carried out to determine the statistics that can be requested from the units of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the variables and reference articles that need to be examined. The needs assessment was conducted following a decision of the working group established under the Directorate General for Criminal Records and Statistics, which includes representatives of the Department of Human Rights, Department of Education, and Directorate General for Information Technologies at the Ministry of Justice.
In 2024, TIHEK organized meetings on challenges and responses in addressing discrimination against Roma citizens of Türkiye, with a focus on health care, social services and social assistance. Meeting were also held to discuss challenges and responses in addressing racism, which provided a platform for knowledge sharing on these issues.
The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) published relevant recommendations in its "Report on the 2023 and 2024 Commission reports on Türkiye (2025/2023(INI)".
The United Nations Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) published relevant recommendations in its "Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Türkiye".
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "ECRI Report on Türkiye (sixth monitoring cycle)".
ODIHR recognizes Türkiye's efforts to report hate crime data and information to ODIHR. However, based on the available information, ODIHR observes that Türkiye's law enforcement agencies have not recorded the bias motivations of hate crimes. In addition, ODIHR also observes that Türkiye would benefit from reviewing the existing legal framework to ensure that bias motivations can be effectively acknowledged and appropriate penalties imposed on the perpetrators.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States committed to promptly investigating hate crimes and ensuring that the motives of those convicted of hate crimes are acknowledged. To that end, law enforcement must first record the bias motivations of hate crimes. Participating States also committed to enacting specific, tailored legislation to combat hate crimes, providing for effective penalties that take into account the gravity of such crimes.
ODIHR stands ready to support Türkiye in meeting the relevant commitments through its comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as by providing further resources and tailored legislative advice.
For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Türkiye from the following civil society organizations:
- Solidarity with Others
- Human Rights Association
- Freedom of Belief Initiative (Norwegian Helsinki Committee)
- Trans Europe and Central Asia (TGEU)
- London Legal Group (LLG)
- International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF)
- The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC)
To learn more about these organizations, visit the Contributors page.
In addition, the Holy See also reported hate incidents in Türkiye as part of its ongoing monitoring.
All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that were broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents involved multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories.
ODIHR’s insightsFor 2024, ODIHR received reports of 77 hate incidents that took place in Türkiye in the following bias motivation categories: anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-Roma, anti-Semitic, gender-based, and racist and xenophobic. In addition, several incidents involved multiple biases, such as gender-based and anti-LGBTI, racist and xenophobic and anti-Christian, and racist and xenophobic and anti-Semitic. ODIHR observes that half of the incidents reported in Türkiye were racist and xenophobic, and included several physical assaults and serious property damage targeting the Syrian refugee community. Some incidents occurred in the context of large-scale anti-Syrian riots. Several anti-Kurdish incidents were also observed targeting visible members of the Kurdish community. A number of serious violent incidents (including two homicides) targeting transgender people were also observed. It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting on Türkiye related to disability hate incidents or those targeting members of other religions or belief. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here. |
Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Türkiye.
To address under-reporting ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents in Türkiye to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl.
To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Türkiye click here and search by year and country.