THE CRIMINALIZATION OF LÈSE-MAJESTÉ IN TURKEY AS A LEGAL INSTRUMENT FOR THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF REPRESSION AND CENTRALIZATION OF POWER: THE PRICE OF QUESTIONING THE UNQUESTIONABLE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/jos.2026.29.1.59Keywords:
Republic of Turkey, insulting the president, lèse-majesté, freedom of speech, centralization of power, R. T. Erdoğan, authoritarianism, Stare DecisisAbstract
This article examines the normative content and practical application of Article 299 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Turkey, contextualizing them within the framework of authoritarian transformations and the centralization of power. Employing historical-legal and comparative methods, the study demonstrates that the criminalization of insulting the head of state in Turkey has evolved into a legal mechanism for the "sacralization" of the presidential institution and the legitimation of one-man rule. The unprecedented surge in criminal proceedings initiated and convictions handed down during R. T. Erdoğan’s presidency demonstrates the systemic abuse of this legal norm. Furthermore, by analyzing the contradictions between the rulings of the Constitutional Court of Turkey, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the standards of the Venice Commission, the article emphasizes that Article 299 has transcended the classical legal boundaries of protecting personal honor and dignity, functioning in practice as an institutional lever for the suppression of political opposition and freedom of speech.
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