BDP asks for parliamentary inquiry on hate crimes

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has introduced a proposal to open a parliamentary inquiry for the development of statistical data on hate crimes in order to determine necessary regulations for their prevention.

A group of BDP deputies including Istanbul Deputy Sebahat Tuncel submitted a proposal to the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office on Oct. 23 calling for the implementation of studies to develop statistical data on hate crimes, identify the segments of society being subjected to hate crimes, analyze current hate crime laws around the world and assess necessary regulations to prevent hate crimes in Turkey.

In light of the equality principle laid out in the Constitution and Turkish Penal Code (TCK) regulations that cite discrimination as a crime, the inquiry was proposed due to the large number of people subjected to discrimination and attacks – including physical violence – for identifying different ethnic identities, beliefs, cultures or societal classes.