Turkish police probe social media users who encouraged mass sexual assault of women

Turkish police are looking for social media users who started an online campaign encouraging the sexual assault of women on April 12. "These posts are considered online terrorism in terms of their content," the police said in an official statement about the tweets using the hashtag "April 12" and encouraging men to "go out hunting."

Monday April 12 2021 02:28 pm

Duvar English

Turkish police launched an investigation against social media users who encouraged the mass sexual assault of women on April 12, less than a month after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree withdrawing Turkey from the Istanbul Convention.

Some social media users shared messages on April 12 that declared they either had or were planning to sexually assault women, and encouraged others to "go hunting" too.

"These posts are online terrorism in terms of their content," police said in an official statement, adding that they have detained all users who made criminal posts using the hashtag for the Turkish words for "April 12."

The social media posts come less than a month after President Erdoğan withdrew the country from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty that protects women's rights.

The president's decree was the latest manifestation of the Turkish government's reluctance to prevent violent crimes against women, with prosecutors failing to punish perpetrators and courts failing to establish sufficient protective measures.

Most recently, Islamists have taken to Twitter in demand of the cancellation of Law No 6284 to Protect Family and Prevent Violence Against Women.