Construction of Satanism in Turkish Secularist and Islamist Newspapers

Abstract

On 22 September 1999 the dead body of an 18-yearold girl was found in a cemetery in Istanbul, Turkey. Massive media coverage was launched when the police discovered that she had been killed by two young men and a young woman, who, claiming to be Satanists, testified that one of them had orders from Satan to perform the sacrifice. When the public prosecutor used the description of Satanism in the formal charges brought against the accused, Satanism entered the legal documents as a new crime for the first time in Turkish legal history. The three perpetrators were judged guilty of murder and were sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison.