Insulting offense in the Turkish Criminal Law

The 125th article of the Turkish Criminal Law numbered 5237, which entered into force on June 1, 2005, regulates the offense of defamation. With this regulation, the moral assets of the persons, especially the honor, dignity and glory rights are guaranteed. This right has been expressed as one of the personal rights in national and international texts. As a matter of fact, it was regulated after the right to live as "the right of people to protect their spiritual existence" in the first paragraph of the 17th article of the 1982 Constitution. National acclaim is praised. No one in the field of international education at the European Human Rights Competition. The European Convention on Human Rights contains provisions for the protection of dignity, honor and dignity. Although there is no regulation in the Turkish Criminal Law as a direct dignity and right of honor, it is possible to evaluate the concept of "dignity" and "right to honor" within the spiritual existence of individuals. Apart from the basic form of article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Law, there are also special regulations within the scope of defamation offense. Special offenses such as insulting a public official and the President are also included in the Turkish Criminal Law. The fact that the basic form of the offense of defamation depends on the complaint has led to the interpretation in the doctrine that this offense is one of the minor offenses. Although defamation offenses are not counted among the offenses with severe injustice, the practice is also one of the types of offenses that occupy the judicial authorities the most. The reason for this is that today it is easy to reach people in written, oral or social media and can be processed easily. In addition, it is expressed as criticism in the doctrine that people who are subject to legal proceedings are punished with judicial fines due to committing this offense. The aim of this study is to provide deterrence in this offense, to examine and discuss the issues that are deficient in teaching and practice, and to offer solutions.