Motivational factors of Turkish foreign terrorist fighters in ISIS

ÖZTOP F. A.

MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, cilt.58, sa.4, ss.553-572, 2022 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 58 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/00263206.2021.1978984
  • Dergi Adı: MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, Geobase, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Jewish Studies Source, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.553-572
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Turkish foreign terrorist fighters, motivations, Turkey, ISIS, JIHAD
  • Kocaeli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This article examines motivational factors that push and pull Turkish citizens to join ISIS, based on a content analysis of 132 interviews. The four push factors revealed in the analysis are socioeconomic conditions, lack of meaningfulness, social exclusion, and personal trauma, while five pull factors are material incentives, Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) rhetoric, opposition to al-Assad's regime, discourse of redemption, and declaration of the caliphate. There are two main findings: first, terrorist organizations abuse society's tolerance of religious groups, and second, Turkey's Syrian foreign policy as well as the actions of groups linked to PKK are both influential.