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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 offear and intimidation of the population and thereby effectpolitical,religious, orideological goals. Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, both organized groups,lone wolf, and international spy agencies have committed many acts ofdomestic terrorism againstTurkish people.[1]
This article serves as categorization and a compilation of acts ofterrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in bynon-state actors orspies who are acting in the interests ofstate actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the Republic of Turkey.[1]
The organizations on the list carry out cyber attacks on various ethnic identities, devices and individuals not only in social life but also on social media (Instagram andTikTok for example). They are also trying to take control of the media through cyber means and aim to gain sympathy and support through the media. There are symbols used by members of this organization. their clothes, lifestyle, the region they live in and where they take shelter, and their activities; by sharing their acts of distribution and brutality through the media 'without hesitation'; People from many backgrounds, races and ages around the world are threatened by spreading and sharing these images through the media.
The signs and physical symbols they use are to threaten people by raising the index finger (the index finger) up and into the air (Islamic Terrorist Organizations Symbols); The aim is to 'use religion' to talk about the activities they will do and to persuade them to Islam, to make them adopt the concept of jihad, to see themselves as soldiers of Allah and to force people to believe in this direction, to terrorize them and to spread terror with brutality. The clothing styles of men and women belonging to these organizations are in accordance with the Islamic religion they adopt. Men have long beards and turbans, and women wear black chadors. Today, their terrorist acts have become widespread in countries such as Turkey, (also associated with Kurdish Terrorist Organizations), European and Asian countries, and America. There are age groups, nationalities and people they target. They pose a global problem.The terrorist acts carried out by these Islamic, sharia and jihadist organizations together with the Kurdish Terrorist Organizations are also obvious.
OrganizationFethullah Terrorist Organization, Parallel State Structure[2]Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C)Maoist Communist Party (MKP)Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML)Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP)Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)Kurdistan Revolutionary Party (PŞK)Kurdistan Democratic Party/North (PDK/Bakur)Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK)HezbollahCaliphate State (HD)Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front (İBDA/C)Tevhid Salam (Jerusalem Army)Al-Qaeda Terrorist Organization Turkey StructureIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/DAEŞ)
The Kurdish Terrorist Organizations listed in the table above also have their own interests, symbols and activities/aid. These are mainly; a flag made of green, red and yellow colors (the colors and the sun symbol are brought together on social media), the sun symbol and the symbol of raising the 'pointer and middle finger' in the air, which is shown as a peace sign globally. While these signs are considered forbidden and related to the terrorist organization in certain circles, many people are unaware of this information and what is happening. Among the crimes they commit; substance use and sale, harassment, kidnapping, various threats, disrupting the order of countries, violating borders, savagery and massacre in social areas (with weapons and bombs), infiltrating social life and brainwashing people and imposing substance use on people to become members of their own organization. 'To set eyes on' the identities of states through immigration and to expand the areas for their activities by acquiring an 'identity' (introducing themselves to other countries and people with a different ethnic origin and using the legal rights of the country and citizens as their own, issuing fake identities, raising a flag, forcing states to accept their independence as a minority and trying to corrupt and assimilate the borders, historical values and elements of countries and doing these in other countries by violating the borders and people of different countries.
To display activities such as manipulation, forgery, fraud, violation, savagery, terror, terror. To drag the world into savagery in line with the purposes and ideals such as turning civilizations against each other and not recognizing any value in line with their own interests. These are organizations that organize similar criminal activities. There are institutions and organizations that fight against these organizations.
Terrorist attacks in Turkey have occurred in the southeastern and eastern provinces and major cities likeAnkara andIstanbul. 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]
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'spolitical 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]
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 ofsit-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.
1970s stemmed from thestudent protest movement in the 1960s.
Over the 1970s.Left-wing terrorism began in 1969 when the Proletarian Revolutionaries and Proletarian Socialists formed theFederation of Revolutionary Youth of Turkey (Dev-Genç). Knowledge on the use of explosives and weapons was provided by thePalestine 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, theRevolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) was established in 1994 following the breakup of theDev 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 ofsuicide 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 inOperation 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]
| Event | Year | Deaths | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 United States embassy bombing in Ankara | 2013 | 2 |  DHKP-C |
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), aKurdish 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 includePınarcık,Bingöl andBlue Market massacres.
The2016 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 novelistAslı Erdoğan of charges of terrorist group membership and "undermining national unity". She was one of several staff members of the pro-Kurdish newspaperÖzgür Gündem accused of having ties to Kurdish militants.[11]
On 13 November 2022, anexplosion took place onİstiklal Avenue inIstanbul'sBeyoğlu district at 4:20 PM local time. According to theGovernor 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 theKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of being behind the attack.[12]
The Kurdish groupKongra-Gel, which has been engaged in armed violence since the 1980s, continued its activities insoutheastern Turkey andIraqi Kurdistan. In addition to clashes between theTurkish Armed Forces and KGK inIraqi 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 theİmralı prison.[8]
Despite aceasefire 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]
In the 1980s and 1990s,Jihadist terrorism in Turkey was an isolated phenomenon represented by theTurkish Hezbollah and theGreat Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front.[17] Since the 2000s, there has been a rise in attacks from Islamist groups, some with links toAl-Qaeda.[18]
One group that has been studied by researchers is the Turkish Hezbollah.[19] 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.
In July 1993, an arson attack took place where extremistsset fire to a hotel where a cultural festival was taking place. Islamic groups attacked and threatened Jewish personalities and theJewish community in Turkey.[20]
According to the Stockholm Center for Freedom, the most targeted religious groups in 2022 wereAlevis and Christians.[21]
Origin of the group outside the country.
In October 2014 Kurds were protesting against both the Turkish authorities and sympathizers of ISIL[22] whileTurkish soldiers have been observed to have a "soft stance" towards ISIL militants and even killing a female protester against ISIL.[23]
TheMarch 2016 Ankara bombing killed at least 37 people and injured 125. TheTAK claimed responsibility.[24]
TheDokumacılar is an Islamic terrorist group composed of about 60 Turkish militants who joinedISIL. The group is responsible for the2015 Suruç bombing which resulted in 32 deaths.
Other attacks, including the2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting, were perpetrated by ISIL.[25]
| Event | Year | Deaths | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 Istanbul bombings | 2003 | 57 |  Al-Qaeda |
| 2005 Kuşadası minibus bombing | 2005 | 5 | |
| Turkish Council of State shooting | 2006 | 1 | Arparslan Arslan |
| 2008 United States consulate in Istanbul attack | 2008 | 6 | Unknown |
| 2015 Istanbul suicide bombing | 2015 | 2 |  ISIL |
| 2015 Ankara bombings | 2015 | 109 | ISIL |
| January 2016 Istanbul bombing | 2016 | 14 | ISIL |
| 2016 Atatürk Airport attack | 2016 | 48 | ISIL |
| August 2016 Gaziantep bombing | 2016 | 57 | ISIL |
| March 2016 Istanbul bombing | 2016 | 5 | ISIL linked militant |
| 2022 Istanbul bombing | 2022 | 6 | Disputed |
| Istanbul nightclub shooting | 2017 | 39 | ISIL |
| 2013 Reyhanlı car bombings | 2013 | 52 |  Syrian Resistance (per Turkish government) |
Two Armenian groups conducted severalterror attacks aimed at Turkish diplomats.
One was theArmenian Revolutionary Federation (in ArmenianDashnaktsuthium, or "The Federation"), a revolutionary movement founded inTiflis (Russian Transcaucasia) in 1890 byChristapor Mikaelian. Many members had been part ofNarodnaya Volya or theHunchakian Revolutionary Party.[26] 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.[27] On 24 August 1896, 17-year-old Babken Suni led twenty-six members incapturing the Imperial Ottoman Bank in Constantinople. The group backed down on a threat to blow up the bank.[28] On 21 July 1905,a bombing perpetrated by the same group targeting SultanAbdul 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 andAnkara Esenboğa airport attack.[7]: 10–12
| Event | Year | Deaths | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation of the Ottoman Bank | 1896 | 10 |  Armenian Revolutionary Federation |
| Yıldız assassination attempt | 1905 | 26 | Armenian Revolutionary Federation |
| Ankara Esenboğa Airport attack | 1982 | 10 |  ASALA |
According to the US State Department "Turkey regularly used to criminalize the exercise of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly".[29] 1.6 million people were investigated after being accused of terrorism between 2016 and 2020.[30] Prominent figures of the Turkish opposition were accused of an alleged membership of a terrorist group.[30] The definition of terrorism in Turkey is rather vague as it also includes a social media post or taking part in popular protests.[30]
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 theright-wingparties.[31]
The Country Reports on Terrorism, published by the U.S. Department of State, provide assessments regarding counterterrorism efforts worldwide. The 2023 report includes various evaluations concerning Turkey. The report covers Turkey's counterterrorism activities, legal regulations, human rights practices, and international cooperation.[32]
The report states that Turkey conducted operations throughout 2023 against groups such as the PKK, DHKP/C, and ISIS. It notes that the PKK carried out attacks targeting Turkey’s domestic and foreign interests, resulting in the deaths of 51 security personnel, 196 PKK members, and 11 civilians. Operations conducted by Turkish security forces in northern Iraq and northern Syria are also mentioned. Significant incidents highlighted in the report include the October 1 suicide attack targeting the Ministry of Interior building in Ankara and the December 22–23 PKK attacks in northern Iraq. In response to these attacks, Turkish airstrikes reportedly led to the deaths of 10 civilians and caused damage to civilian infrastructure, including healthcare and industrial facilities.
The report examines the judicial processes and arrests targeting individuals linked to the Gülen Movement, which Turkey holds responsible for the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. The U.S. does not recognize this movement as a terrorist organization and refers to its leader, Fethullah Gülen, as an "exiled cleric and political figure." It is noted that Gülen resides in the U.S., which has been a point of disagreement between the two nations. The report criticizes some of these cases, citing insufficient evidence and a lack of adherence to international legal standards.
The report highlights concerns regarding Turkey's counterterrorism laws, stating that they are occasionally applied in ways that restrict freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. Criticisms include claims of insufficient evidence and procedural deficiencies in detention and arrest practices.
The report examines the impact of counterterrorism measures on freedom of expression and the press. It references the monitoring of social media accounts and arrests on charges of terrorism propaganda.
The report notes that Turkey remains on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list. It outlines steps taken by Turkey, such as introducing regulations concerning politically exposed persons, enhancing financial intelligence activities, and improving risk-based supervision. Additionally, more complex money laundering investigations and prosecutions are reported to have been carried out.
The report details Turkey's contributions to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, including its roles in the Africa Focus Group and the Communications Working Group. Turkey’s efforts in repatriating displaced foreign nationals and detainees are also highlighted.
