Terrorism in Turkey

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.

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.

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.

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. 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."

Left Wing
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
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). 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Since the 2000s, there has been a rise in attacks from Islamist groups, some with links to Al-Qaeda.

Anti-government
One group that has been studied by researchers is the Turkish Hezbollah. 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.

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 while Turkish soldiers have been observed to have a "soft stance" towards ISIL militants and even killing a female protester against ISIL.

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

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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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

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.