The Istanbul based Hrant Dink Foundation has issued a media study showing that Armenians in Turkey and overseas were the most targeted in hate speech articles and news reports between May and August in 2012 in Turkey.

The Foundation identified 101 op-eds and news articles targeting national, ethnic and religious groups during the period. 35 items focused on women and individuals with non-mainstream sexual orientations.

The report concludes that the groups most targeted were Armenians, Christians, Jews and Greeks, in that order.

The report notes: “Out of this group, the aspect that stood out the most in terms of hate speech towards Armenians, which we may identify as a fixed category, was their association with the [terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK within the context of the recently intensifying conflict. This discourse, produced through an understanding that “Muslim Kurds are harmless and the PKK is an Armenian movement,” was also seen to be reproduced at times with content targeting Christians and Jews. However, the most dominant assertion was that of Armenians supporting the PKK, looking for opportunities to harm Turkey, the “eternal enemy,” and being a risk factor.”

According to the Foundation study, newspapers with a nationalist-conservative bent provided the most space to hate speech. The study singled out Milli Gazete, Yeni Akit, Ortadoğu, Yeniçağ and Yeni Mesaj as leading the hate speech list.

The Hrant Dink Foundation has been monitoring the media for hate speech since 2009. It says its main purpose is to combat racism, discrimination and intolerance in Turkey. The foundation monitored approximately 1,000 local newspapers and all national newspapers through the Media Monitoring Center using various key strings (such as collaborator, Turcophobe, separatist etc.).