3. European ‘gospels of hate’: value politics and displacement of responsibility
The same pattern of narrative manipulation is visible on the European side, where far‑right actors instrumentalize religious language to construct what has been described as a “gospel of hate” around Christmas and Christian identity.[1] As highlighted in recent commentary, these groups mobilize Christmas symbolism not to promote solidarity but to redirect public anger towards migrants, Muslims, and vaguely defined “globalist elites,” thereby reframing political and economic frustrations as a civilizational struggle.[2]
When projected onto the Black Sea context, such value‑laden narratives help displace responsibility for a war rooted in Russian aggression and clear violations of international law, allowing Moscow to pose as a putative “defender of tradition” while casting Türkiye and other non‑EU actors as part of an amorphous external threat. In doing so, they weaken support within European societies for multilateralism, treaty‑based security, and legal constraint—precisely the frameworks that underpin both the Montreux regime and Türkiye’s role as a law‑bound guardian of Black Sea stability, as underscored in earlier AVİM analyses on guardianship, equilibrium, and the legacy of order in the region.
[1] Editorial, “The Guardian View on Far‑Right Perversions of the Christmas Message: Promoting a Gospel of Hate,” The Guardian, December 11, 2025, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/11/the-guardian-view-on-far-right-perversions-of-the-christmas-message-promoting-a-gospel-of-hate?CMP=share_btn_url&fbclid=IwY2xjawPMf_tleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFkZ3FqcjF4dmdDN3FRVURUc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHq-1snvnr4xcBF2FOhgq4ufec_0FWZbw6u1yWkJ0C4FRU8Ow8DZ3DI1vztGQ_aem_SUmv06IjNgAAagN0uLQvpw
[2] “Patrick Christys and the Far‑Right Target Way of Life SQ’s Christmas Video,” S2Jnews, December 23, 2025, accessed January 5, 2026, https://s2jnews.com/patrick-christys-and-the-far-right-target-way-of-life-sqs-christmas-video/ ; Holly Bancroft, “Don’t Exploit the Christian Message for Your Populist Politics, Church Leader Warns Tommy Robinson,” The Independent, December 9, 2025, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/church-england-tommy-robinson-christmas-populist-b2879645.html