Terrorism in Turkey

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Terrorism in Turkey is defined in Turkey's criminal law as crimes against the constitutional order and internal and external security of the state by the use of violence as incitement or systematic to create a general climate of fear and intimidation of the population and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological goals. Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, both organized groups, lone wolf, and international spy agencies have committed many acts of domestic terrorism against Turkish people. [1]

Contents

This article serves as categorization and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the Republic of Turkey. [1]

Geographic patterns

Terrorist attacks in Turkey have occurred in the southeastern and eastern provinces and major cities like Ankara and Istanbul. According to Nadir Öcal and Jülide Yildirim, most of the terrorist incidents in Turkey have been concentrated in South Eastern and Eastern Turkey and major cities. [2]

By ideology

The instability of Turkish Polity originated from the constitutional monarchy of the Ottoman Empire, which suffered dramatic movements that threatened to destroy its national being as early as the nationalist movement in Anatolia in 1919. [3] Turkey's political liberalization began with Adnan Menderes and Celal Bayar's registering of the Democrat Party (DP) in January 1946. However, beginning in the 1960s the political instability had a new dimension. Political terrorism in Turkey:

...the emergence and escalation of political terrorism in Turkey took place just after the country's social scene had undergone rapid and far-reaching changes.. .the most important... [being] the transformation of Turkey from a predominantly rural society to an increasingly urban one. [4]

Left Wing

Driven by a Marxist-Leninist ideology, these often small, lethal, urban terrorist groups flourished during the Cold War aiming to overthrow their country's democratic government and replace it with their "vision" of a proletarian rule. [5]

Over the 1960s, Leftist radicals first attempted to challenge the political regime by use of sit-ins, street demonstrations, and the establishment of a new political party, the Turkish Labor Party (TLP). After only receiving 3% of the popular vote in the 1965 election, and 2.7% four years later, leftist radicals began to turn to a more militant approach.

Anti-government

Left-wing Anti-government
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Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front
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Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist
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Maoist Communist Party (Turkey)

1970s stemmed from the student protest movement in the 1960s.

Over the 1970s. Left-wing terrorism began in 1969 when the Proletarian Revolutionaries and Proletarian Socialists formed the Federation of Revolutionary Youth of Turkey (Dev-Genç). Knowledge on the use of explosives and weapons was provided by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). [6] Terror activities included bank robberies, bombings and kidnappings (for ransom). In 1971, the military declared martial law to arrest revolutionaries. By 1973, these incidents had stopped. [7] : 15 

According to Turkish professor Sabri Sayari, more than 5,000 people were killed in hundreds of terrorist incidents between 1976 and 1980. [6]

Over the 1970s, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) was established in 1994 following the breakup of the Dev Sol group. The anti-American group, which opposed Turkish membership in NATO and the "Turkish establishment ideology" has been involved in several high-profile attacks against American interests in Turkey, and was still active in 2015. [8]

Over the 2000, The DHKP/C began a campaign of suicide bombings in 2001, combining the tactic with targeted assassination and the use of improvised explosives to attack the Turkish police. The violent campaign intensified in 2003 in response to Turkish support in Operation Iraqi Freedom. [8]

DHKP/C resumed attacks against Turkish police in 2012 following a nearly decade-long hiatus. In March 2015 they took a Turkish prosecutor hostage who lost his life in the subsequent shootout with police. An unsuccessful suicide bombing attempt in April 2015 targeted the Istanbul headquarters of the Turkish police. [8]

Separatist

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group, was responsible for the vast majority of terrorist attacks through 1980s and 1990s. These attacks disproportionately affected the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey, where the PKK focused its activities. [9] [10] Notable terrorist attacks throughout this period include Pınarcık, Bingöl and Blue Market massacres.

The 2016 Atatürk Airport attack, consisting of shootings and suicide bombings, occurred on 28 June 2016 at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Three ISIL-linked terrorists murdered forty-five people and injured 230.

In February 2020, an Istanbul court acquitted novelist Aslı Erdoğan of charges of terrorist group membership and "undermining national unity". She was one of several staff members of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem accused of having ties to Kurdish militants. [11]

On 13 November 2022, an explosion took place on İstiklal Avenue in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district at 4:20 PM local time. According to the Governor of Istanbul, Ali Yerlikaya, the bombing left at least six people dead and 81 injured. A woman who left a bag on the avenue is the main suspect in the attack. However, no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Interior Minister, Süleyman Soylu formally accused the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of being behind the attack. [12]

The Kurdish group Kongra-Gel, which has been engaged in armed violence since the 1980s, continued its activities in southeastern Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. In addition to clashes between the Turkish Armed Forces and KGK in Iraqi Kurdistan, KGK intensified its campaign in Turkey, and was involved in the high-profile kidnapping of a Turkish parliamentary deputy in August 2012. Following the incident the group's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, entered into negotiations with Turkey, where he was in custody at the İmralı prison. [8]

Despite a ceasefire between the government and KGK that remained in place for the duration of peace talks, KGK leaders continued to be frustrated with a lack of constitutional and legal protections. With the exception of some clashes in southeast Turkish over the construction of military outposts that Kurdish supporters view as incompatible with the peace process, the ceasefire held until 2015, when the Turkish government ordered the detention of suspected KGK members in Turkey and renewed attacks against KGK camps and weapon caches in Kurdish Iraq. [8]

Religious

In the 1980s and 1990s, Jihadist terrorism in Turkey was an isolated phenomenon represented by the Turkish Hezbollah and the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front. [14] Since the 2000s, there has been a rise in attacks from Islamist groups, some with links to Al-Qaeda. [15]

Anti-government

One group that has been studied by researchers is the Turkish Hezbollah. [16] Some scholars have argued that minimizing the risk posed by Iranian-backed Islamist terrorist groups in the 1990s enabled them to escalate their objectives of destroying the secular regime in Turkey and establishing an Iranian-style theocratic republic.

Hate (bias-motivated crime)

In July 1993, an arson attack took place where extremists set fire to a hotel where a cultural festival was taking place. Islamic groups attacked and threatened Jewish personalities and the Jewish community in Turkey. [17]

International

Origin of the group outside the country.

Anti-government

In October 2014 Kurds were protesting against both the Turkish authorities and sympathizers of ISIL [18] while Turkish soldiers have been observed to have a "soft stance" towards ISIL militants and even killing a female protester against ISIL. [19]

The March 2016 Ankara bombing killed at least 37 people and injured 125. The TAK claimed responsibility. [20]

The Dokumacılar is an Islamic terrorist group composed of about 60 Turkish militants who joined ISIL. The group is responsible for the 2015 Suruç bombing which resulted in 32 deaths.

Other attacks, including the 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting, were perpetrated by ISIL. [21]

Hate (bias-motivated crime)

Two Armenian groups conducted several terror attacks aimed at Turkish diplomats.

One was the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (in Armenian Dashnaktsuthium, or "The Federation"), a revolutionary movement founded in Tiflis (Russian Transcaucasia) in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian. Many members had been part of Narodnaya Volya or the Hunchakian Revolutionary Party. [22] The group published newsletters, smuggled arms, and hijacked buildings as it sought to bring in European intervention that would force the Ottoman Empire to surrender control of its Armenian territories. [23] On 24 August 1896, 17-year-old Babken Suni led twenty-six members in capturing the Imperial Ottoman Bank in Constantinople. The group backed down on a threat to blow up the bank. [24] On 21 July 1905, a bombing perpetrated by the same group targeting Sultan Abdul Hamid II failed to kill the Sultan, while killing 26 and injuring 58 others.

JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide). These attacks spawned a period of ten years from 1975 to 1985. Their efforts were mostly based overseas, but some attacks occurred in Turkey such as the May 1977 bombing of the Istanbul airport and railway and Ankara Esenboğa airport attack. [7] : 10–12 

Controversy

Freedom of speech

According to the US State Department "Turkey regularly used to criminalize the exercise of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly". [25] 1.6 million people were investigated after being accused of terrorism between 2016 and 2020. [26] Prominent figures of the Turkish opposition were accused of an alleged membership of a terrorist group. [26] The definition of terrorism in Turkey is rather vague as it also includes a social media post or taking part in popular protests. [26]

Effects on voting behavior

One study found that Turkish voters are highly sensitive to terrorism and that they blame the government for casualties. Additionally, exposure to terrorism leads to an increase in the vote share of the right-wing parties. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front</span> Political party in Turkey

The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in Turkey. It was founded in 1978 as Revolutionary Left, and has been involved in a militant campaign against the Republic of Turkey since the 1980s. It was renamed in 1994 after factional infighting. It is classified as a terrorist group by Japan, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

The history of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) began in 1974 as a Marxist–Leninist organization under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan. In 1978 the organization adopted the name "Kurdistan Workers Party" and waged its low-level Urban War in Turkish Kurdistan between 1978 and 1980. The PKK restructured itself and moved the organization structure to Syria between 1980 and 1984, after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. The Kurdish-Turkish conflict began in earnest in 1984. The rural-based insurgency lasted between 1984 and 1992. The PKK shifted its activities to include urban attacks against Turkish military bases between 1993–1995 and later 1996–1999. Öcalan was captured in Kenya in early 1999. After a "self declared peace initiative of 1999", hostilities resumed in February 2004. 2013 saw another ceasefire, but the conflict resumed again in 2015 and has continued since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurdistan Free Life Party</span> Political party and militant group in Iran

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurdistan Freedom Hawks</span> Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks or TAK, is a Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey seeking an independent Kurdish state in Turkish Kurdistan. The group also opposes the Turkish government's policies towards Kurds in Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency (1978–2015)</span>

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Political violence in Turkey became a serious problem in the late 1970s and was even described as a "low-level civil war". The death squads of Turkish right-wing ultranationalist groups, sometimes allied with the state, against the resistance of the left-wing opposition inflicted some 5,000 casualties. Most of the victims were left-wingers. The level of illegal violence lessened for a while after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état until the Kurdish-Turkish conflict erupted in 1984.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suruç bombing</span> 2015 suicide attack in Suruç, Turkey

The Suruç bombing was a suicide attack by the Turkish sect of Islamic State named Dokumacılar against Turkish leftists that took place in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa Province in Turkey on 20 July 2015, outside the Amara Culture Centre. A total of 34 people were killed and 104 were reported injured. Most victims were members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Youth Wing and the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), university students who were giving a press statement on their planned trip to reconstruct the Syrian border town of Kobanî.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 police raids in Turkey</span>

The 2015 police raids in Turkey were a series of police raids conducted by the General Directorate of Security in 16 different Provinces of Turkey. The July 20th, 2015 Suruç bombing in Suruç killed 32 Kurds. Claimed by ISIS, it was perceived by Kurdish militants as a collaboration between ISIS and Turkey security services, leading to a series of revenge attacks on Turkish policemen and military positions in Adıyaman and Ceylanpınar. The Ceylanpınar incidents saw the assassination of 2 policemen by operatives of disputed affiliation, attributed to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and became the Casus belli for Turkey operations in both Turkey and Iraq.

Operation Martyr Yalçın was a military operation conducted by the Turkish Air Force against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in Syria, and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq, on 24 and 25 July 2015.

In late July 2015, the third phase of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict between various Kurdish insurgent groups and the Turkish government erupted, following a failed two and a half year-long peace process aimed at resolving the long-running conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Ankara bombings</span> 2015 terror attack during a protest movement in Ankara, Turkey

On 10 October 2015 at 10:04 local time (EEST) in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, two bombs were detonated outside Ankara Central railway station. With a death toll of 109 civilians, the attack surpassed the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings as the deadliest terror attack in Turkish history. Another 500 people were injured. Censorship monitoring group Turkey Blocks identified nationwide slowing of social media services in the aftermath of the blasts, described by rights group Human Rights Watch as an "extrajudicial" measure to restrict independent media coverage of the incident.

Controversies during the Turkish general election of November 2015 mainly centred on the escalating violence in the south-east and the rise in domestic terrorist attacks linked to both the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). International concerns also grew over an increase in media censorship, with the government being accused of specifically targeting news outlets known to be close to the Gülen Movement such as Kanaltürk and Bugün TV. Safety concerns due to the escalating conflict resulted in the government proposing to merge ballot boxes in affected areas and to transport them to safer locations, though the opposition criticised the move as an attempt to decrease the votes of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which polled strongly in the June 2015 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 2016 Istanbul bombing</span> Terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey

On 19 March 2016, a suicide bombing took place in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district in front of the district governor's office. The attack occurred at 10:55 (EET) at the intersection of Balo Street with İstiklal Avenue, a central shopping street. The attack caused at least five deaths, including that of the perpetrator. Thirty-six people were injured, including seven whose injuries were severe. Among those injured were twelve foreign tourists. Among those killed, three were of Israeli nationality. On 22 March, the Turkish interior minister said that the bomber had links with ISIL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2016 Istanbul bombing</span>

On 7 June 2016, at around 08:40 (UTC+3), a bombing occurred in central Istanbul, Turkey, killing 12 people and injuring 51 others, three of them seriously. The attack targeted a bus carrying policemen as the vehicle passed through the Vezneciler district near the Şehzade Mosque and the Vezneciler Metro station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">December 2016 Istanbul bombings</span> Terrorist attack

On the evening of 10 December 2016, two explosions caused by a car bombing and suicide bombing in Istanbul's Beşiktaş municipality killed 48 people and injured 166 others. 39 of those killed were police officers, 7 were civilians and 2 were perpetrators. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) assumed responsibility, claiming that their members killed more than 100 police officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Istanbul bombing</span> Terrorist attack in Turkey

A terrorist attack occurred on İstiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, on 13 November 2022, killing 6 people and injuring 81 others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency</span> Armed conflict between Turkey and PKK

The Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, as well as its allied insurgent groups, both Kurdish and non-Kurdish, who have either demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan, or attempted to secure autonomy, and/or greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside the Republic of Turkey.

References

  1. 1 2 https://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkiye_s-contributions-to-international-community_s-efforts-to-fight-terrorism.en.mfa
  2. ↑ Öcal, Nadir, and Jülide Yildirim. "Regional effects of terrorism on economic growth in Turkey: A geographically weighted regression approach." Journal of Peace Research 47, no. 4 (2010): 477-489.
  3. ↑ Metin Tamkoc, "Stable Instability of the Turkish Polity," The Middle East Journal 27, no. 3 (1973), 319.
  4. ↑ Sabri Sayari and Bruce Hoffman, Urbanization and Insurgency: The Turkish Case, 1976-1980 (Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation, 1991), 3.
  5. ↑ Yonah Alexander and Dennis Pluchinsky, eds., Europe's Red Terrorists: The Fighting Communist Organizations (London: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1992), 16.
  6. 1 2 Sayari, Sabri. "Political Violence and Terrorism in Turkey, 1976–80: A Retrospective Analysis." Terrorism and Political Violence 22, no. 2 (2010): 198-215.
  7. 1 2 Mango, Andrew. Turkey and the War on Terror: For Forty Years We Fought Alone. Routledge. 2005.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Turkish Domestic Terrorism".
  9. ↑ Rodoplu, Ulkumen, Jeffrey Arnold, and Gurkan Ersoy. "Terrorism in Turkey." Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 18, no. 2 (2003): 152-160.
  10. ↑ Ferhad Ibrahim & Gülistan Gürbey. "The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy" (2000): 54
  11. ↑ "Turkish court acquits novelist accused of Kurdish militant ties". Reuters . Archived from the original on 2023-02-24.
  12. ↑ "Turkey accuses Kurdish militants in deadly Istanbul bombing". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  13. ↑ U.S. Department of State. "Country Reports on Terrorism 2010, p. 74" (PDF). United States Department of State. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Malhotra, Brigadier VP. Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in South Asia and India: A Case of India and Her Neighbours. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, 2011.
  15. ↑ Cline, Lawrence E. "From Ocalan to Al Qaida: the continuing terrorist threat in Turkey." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 27, no. 4 (2004): 321-335.
  16. ↑ Ozeren, Suleyman, and Cécile Van De Voorde. "Turkish Hizballah: A case study of radical terrorism." International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 30, no. 1 (2006): 75-93.
  17. ↑ Karmon, Ely. "Islamic terrorist activities in Turkey in the 1990s." Terrorism and Political Violence 10, no. 4 (1998): 101-121.
  18. ↑ Lowen, Mark (2014-10-08). "Turkey Kurds: Kobane protests leave 19 dead". BBC News . Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  19. ↑ Varghese, Johnlee (2014-11-07). "Kurdish Woman Activist 'Shot in the Head' by Turkish Soldiers near Kobani". www.ibtimes.co.in. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  20. ↑ "Ankara blast: Kurdish group TAK claims bombing". BBC News . 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  21. ↑ Grierson, Jamie (3 January 2017). "Isis claims Istanbul nightclub attack as perpetrator remains at large". The Guardian.
  22. ↑ Balakian, Peter. The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004. p.104
  23. ↑ Chaliand, Gerard. The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to al Qaeda. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. p.193
  24. ↑ Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Page 51.
  25. ↑ https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2020/turkey/#:~:text=Legislation%2C%20Law%20Enforcement%2C%20and%20Border,of%20expression%20and%20peaceful%20assembly. Country Reports on Terrorism 2020: Turkey - State Department
  26. 1 2 3 "The EU and NATO have to counter Turkey's accusations regarding Sweden and Finland". Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP). Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  27. ↑ Kibris, Arzu. "Funerals and elections: The effects of terrorism on voting behavior in Turkey." Journal of Conflict Resolution 55, no. 2 (2011): 220-247
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