The distinction between the crime of threat and similar crimes in the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237

The crime of threat dictates the desired behavior to the victim by taking his will captive. Thus it is appropriately classified among crimes against freedom. The freedom of the victim to make decisions freely and bear the consequences of those decisions is undermined. Constitutional provisions, the Penal Code, and various regulations protect individual freedoms. The crime of threat, regulated in Article 106 of he Turkish Penal Code, is a constitutive or qualified form of many crimes and is closely related to many other offenses. Particularly, the newly regulated crime of extortion in our law is a form of verbal threat. Coercion, on the other hand, is a form of physical threat. For the crime of threat to be established, the threat must be transmitted to the victim, the word used must be suitable for a threat, and they must be serious. Threats can involve different legal values. They may relate to the right to life, physical integrity or sexual integrity, or they may involve substantial damage to property or other forms of damage. With recent amendments, the act of threatening a woman has been added as a reason requiring an increase in the lower limit of the penalty in our law. There are many qualified forms of the crime of threat. These qualified forms require an increase in the penalty due to further pressuring the victim's will and encouraging the perpetrator. Qualified forms of the crime are not subject to complaint or reconciliation.