Turkey is one of the countries hardest hit by violent radicalisation. Hundreds of people have lost their lives in nearly 2,000 deadly extremist attacks in the last two decades. Separatists, jihadists and extremists from both the Left and Right have bombed public gatherings, gunned down intellectuals and journalists, ambushed law enforcement personnel, and targeted religious and ethnic minorities.
But instead of developing an integrated legal framework that would not only punish those responsible for attacks but also impose deradicalisation measures, Turkish state institutions have instead adopted a very broad definition of terrorism that increasingly covers peaceful acts of dissidence and further limits political freedoms.
There is a lack of clarity in the laws around online crime, and internet law is more widely used to restrict freedom of expression than to identify online radicalisation. The law sets limits on what is permitted in online content. It also forces international news and social media platforms to appoint local representatives, localise their data, and speed up the removal of content if requested by the government. In addition, it gives the state the right to acquire communication data without court permission, with this data sometimes used to incriminate the opposition.
