Turkey's culture of snitching
In just one example of a deep-rooted Turkish culture of snitching, a marriage comes to an end when a husband tells his wife she can offend him, but not his president, and reports her to the authorities.
They say politics can be a dangerous topic of conversation. Even some marriages don't survive a difference of political opinion. But one husband in Turkey took things even further.
On Feb. 22, Izmir truck driver Ali Dinc took his wife to criminal court for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dinc appeared on television, saying, “I would do the same if it was my father who was offending Erdogan.
"My wife was cursing whenever Erdogan appeared on television. I warned her several times not to do that. I told her our president is a good man, he has done well for our country.” But she was obstinate. Dinc claimed his wife dared him to record her statements. So he did, and he used the recording on his phone as evidence at court.
Dinc told reporters he was sad about ending his marriage, but did not regret his snitching. He could have accepted his wife insulting him, he said, but he could not tolerate insults against the president. On social media, the focus was on the husband’s lawsuit. Most commentators ridiculed this startling news as Erdogan’s ability to even destroy nuclear families, while several raised comparisons with George Orwell’s novel "1984," in which brainwashed children inform on their parents to the authorities. Dinc's case was discussed as the first in Turkey where an individual's opinion, expressed inside a private home, was taken to court in the accelerating trend of citizens' being sued for offending Erdogan.
