In Turkey, Insulting Atatürk's Memory Is a Criminal Offense Punishable by Prison

The Short Answer

Turkey's Law No. 5816, enacted in 1951, makes it a criminal offense to publicly insult or defame the memory of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Offenders can face imprisonment of one to three years, and the law is actively enforced with thousands of prosecutions recorded.

The Full Story

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who died in 1938, is revered in Turkey as the architect of the modern Turkish Republic, having led the War of Independence after World War I and dismantled the Ottoman Empire to create a secular, Westernized nation-state. His image appears on Turkish currency, in every government office, and his name has become virtually synonymous with Turkish national identity.

The law protecting his memory — Law No. 5816 — was ironically not passed by his own party. It was enacted in 1951 by the rival Democrat Party government of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, following a wave of vandalism targeting Atatürk statues and busts across the country. The Democrat Party, despite competing with Atatürk's Republican People's Party, used the law partly as a political instrument to consolidate national unity imagery.

For decades the law saw moderate enforcement, but prosecutions exploded under the AKP government of President Erdoğan — rising by over 1,000% between 2002 and 2019. The law has been used not just against verbal insults but to block entire platforms: YouTube, GeoCities, and Google sites have all been restricted under Law 5816. In 2006, a man who poured red paint on Atatürk statues was sentenced to over 13 years in prison — a sentence the European Court of Human Rights later deemed disproportionate. Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and the European Court of Human Rights have all criticized the law as incompatible with freedom of expression, though Turkey has not repealed it. Remarkably, the law even ensnared a Nobel Prize-winning author: Orhan Pamuk faced an investigation under Law 5816 over alleged allusions in his novel 'Nights of Plague.'

Common Misconceptions

Many people assume this law only applies to verbal insults. In fact, it also criminalizes destruction or defacement of Atatürk statues, busts, monuments, or his tomb (with higher penalties of 1–5 years), and has been used to block websites and internet platforms. The law is also sometimes confused with the separate Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (which covers insulting 'the Turkish Nation' broadly) and Article 299 (insulting the sitting President). All three laws operate simultaneously and have been used together in prosecutions. Additionally, some assume the law is a relic rarely enforced — in fact, prosecutions have sharply increased in the 21st century, reaching over 1,350 cases in 2019 alone.

Actual Legal Text

Article 1/1: 'Anyone who publicly insults or curses the memory of Atatürk shall be imprisoned with a heavy sentence of between one and three years.' If the offense is committed by two or more persons collectively, in public places, or by means of the press, the penalty is increased by half. Destroying, defacing, or desecrating statues, busts, or monuments of Atatürk carries a sentence of one to five years. Anyone who encourages others to commit these crimes is punished as a principal perpetrator.

Current Status

Actively Enforced

Penalty

Imprisonment of 1 to 3 years for publicly insulting Atatürk's memory; 1 to 5 years for destroying statues, busts, or monuments. Penalties increased by 50% if the offense is committed by two or more persons, in public, or via the press. Short sentences (≤1 year) may be commuted to a judicial fine at the court's discretion.

Imprisonment: 3 years