Introduction
This article explores the concept of terrorism, its historical roots, and how it has been defined and manipulated by different powers over time. It emphasizes that terrorism is one of the most abused and misinterpreted terms in modern politics. The article also discusses how the definition of terrorism changes based on political interests, making it difficult to establish a universally accepted meaning.
Terrorism has a lifespan as long as the age of humanity. Let us start with the etymological origin of the concept of terror.
The word terror, which comes from the Latin terrere, has meanings such as to frighten, to terrify, to cause trembling or trembling with fear, to frighten away, to deter.
Today, all of these meanings have been added to being carried out for a political purpose. Having a political purpose and instilling fear and terror are the two main characteristics that make an act, an act of terrorism.
The Turkish equivalent of terror, according to the TDK (Turkish Language Association) dictionary, is defined as intimidation, killing, and instilling fear.
According to the Larousse Encyclopedic Dictionary, terror is the systematic use of violence, intimidation, and terror to force acceptance of a political cause or to keep a certain group in a constant state of fear.
Terrorism, as a concept in the literature, first appeared in the appendix of the Dictionnarie de L’Academie (Dictionary of the French Academy) published in 1789 and was defined as ‘system or regime of terror.’ (ALTUĞ)
The word “terror” originates from the period during the French Revolution between March 1793 and July 1794, when the Jacobins, led by Robespierre, implemented brutal methods in what became known as the “Reign of Terror.” The term “terrorism” was born during the French Revolution, particularly under the Jacobins’ rule of terror. (ALTUĞ)
While it is possible to define the concept of terror etymologically, defining it politically and legally is not so straightforward today. This is because each country shapes its definition of terrorism according to its national interests. (ÇİTLİOĞLU)
In the book Gray Threat: Terrorism, Professor Ercan ÇİTLİOĞLU provides a striking example related to this issue: Prior to the Second Gulf War, the U.S. claimed that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and used this as a pretext to invade the country. According to the U.S., Iraqis resisting the invasion were labeled as terrorists. However, the same U.S. and the UK regarded members of underground resistance organizations in Nazi-occupied France during World War II as patriots defending their country.
Terrorism will exist in the future just as it has existed in the past. Terrorist movements, as old as human history itself, can be examined from a historical perspective in two parts: the first part covers the period from the 1st century BCE to the year 1880, and the second part includes the systematic waves of terrorism that have continued, influencing one another up to the present day. Some terrorist organizations within these waves have adapted to the conditions of new eras and have continued to operate in subsequent periods.
In ancient times, terrorism was always justified by its practitioners as a tool of resistance against tyranny.
Plato and Aristotle viewed tyrannical rule as a form of perversion and the worst form of government. In Ancient Greece, the killers of tyrants were elevated to the status of national heroes. According to Thomas Aquinas, a ruler’s duty is to uphold justice, and as a result, a tyrannical ruler has no legitimate claim to obedience.
Based on these explanations, we can consider the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE as one of the earliest acts of terrorism.
The doctrine of regicide, or ruler-killing, especially developed during the 16th and 17th centuries. The warning in the Bible, “those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword,” served as the moral and philosophical justification for these killings. (ALTUĞ)
The Sicarii, established as a highly organized religious sect by conservative Jewish clergy in Palestine between 66–73 AD, following the assassination of Caesar, is considered one of the earliest known terrorist movements.
The Sicarii (derived from the Latin word *Sicarius*, meaning “dagger-wielding man” or “assassin”) were a radical offshoot of the Zealots, a fundamentalist Jewish political group aiming to expel the Romans and their supporters from Judea in the years just before Jerusalem’s destruction and looting by the Roman Empire in 70 AD. They took their name from the *sicae*, the daggers they concealed under their robes. The Sicarii would draw these daggers in crowded areas to attack Romans and their sympathizers, blending into the crowd to escape after carrying out their missions. Emerging centuries before similar groups in the Middle East (like the Hashashin) or Japan (like ninjas), they are one of history’s earliest organized assassination organizations. (Wikipedia)
The Sicarii understood the significance of the terrorism strategy and contributed it to recorded history. We can consider the Sicarii the forefathers of terrorism as we know it.
Another group in history known for practicing terrorism is the Thugs. The word “Thug” originates from Hindi and is used with the same meaning in English. The Thugs first emerged in India in the 11th century.
The Thugs were a secret brotherhood of assassins. They believed that by strangling their victims, they were honoring the goddess Kali. Their method involved killing travelers they encountered on the roads using a white cloth hidden under their clothing.
The Thugs first came to the attention of British authorities in 1799 and continued to exist until the last Thug was hanged in Punjab in 1882.
Hashashin (Assassins) refers to the religious sect and political organization founded in 1090 by Hasan ibn Sabbah, a cleric of the Ismaili branch of the Shia sect, at Alamut Castle, located within present-day Iran. (Wikipedia)
The term “Hashashin” entered Western languages as “assassin,” meaning “murderer” or “hitman.” The Hashashins are recorded in history as the first systematic assassination organization. The leader, Hasan Sabbah, used hashish to influence and control the minds of his followers, directing them to carry out actions that would leave a lasting mark on history. Among the organization’s notable victims were Nizam al-Mulk, the vizier of the Great Seljuk Empire, and Conrad of Montferrat, ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
At the beginning of our article, we mentioned that the developments following the French Revolution are perceived as a turning point in the emergence of the concepts of “terror” and “terrorism.” Many researchers argue that modern terrorism was born in the post-French Revolution period. The French Revolution of 1789, as is well known, is one of the major turning points in world history. Led by the wealthy landowning bourgeoisie, the French Revolution was carried out against the Kingdom of France. The bourgeoisie mobilized the French people with the slogans of “liberty, equality, and fraternity.” However, after the revolution was completed, the French people did not achieve what they had hoped for. Instead, the Convention, established by representatives of the bourgeois class, began to exert pressure on the populace. As a result, although the revolution was supposedly carried out for the benefit of the French people, it faced resistance on two fronts in its early days: on one hand, it struggled to suppress counter-revolutionary initiatives led by the royalists; on the other, it encountered counter-revolutionary uprisings from disappointed peasants. These counter-revolutionary uprisings continued until the Convention declared the Republic on September 21, 1792. After the proclamation of the Republic, the Jacobins gained a majority in the Assembly and took power in 1793.
The Reign of Terror (September 5, 1793 – July 28, 1794) was a bloody period in France during which the Jacobins, who seized power for ten months following the French Revolution, conducted trials of counter-revolutionaries and carried out a wave of executions in Paris. Key Jacobin leaders included Robespierre, Mirabeau, Marat, Saint-Just, and Danton. After the Republic was declared, these prominent Jacobins collaborated to ensure that there would be no turning back, orchestrating the execution of the king by guillotine on January 21, 1793, on charges of “treason against the nation.” Additionally, masses deemed counter-revolutionary and labeled as internal enemies were sent to the guillotine through revolutionary courts, and later, those responsible for these actions met the same fate, as paranoia gripped the country throughout this period.
It all began when nobles, with the support of the Church, attempted to reclaim the throne and sought assistance from foreign nations such as England. Faced with this threat to the revolution, the Jacobins implemented extreme policies, eliminating even those within their own ranks who opposed them.
Eventually, the nation, weary of the terror, enacted the White Terror, removing all prominent Jacobins from power. However, overcoming this bloody period took a long toll on France. During the Reign of Terror, at least 300,000 suspects were arrested; 17,000 were officially executed, and perhaps 10,000 more died in prison or without trial. (Wikipedia)
Modern Terrorism and Its Waves
In this section of our article, we will examine the phases of terrorism after 1880. In his book The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism, American researcher and author David Rapoport divides modern terrorism into four waves. Let’s look at these waves.
The Anarchist Wave: Beginning in the 1880s and continuing until the 1920s, anarchists, who rejected all forms of authority, emerged prominently through assassinations, particularly targeting state leaders (Woodcock, 2004).
In the latter half of the 19th century, terrorism was sometimes associated with “nihilism” and sometimes with “anarchism,” depending on the term prevalent at the time. The reason for linking terrorism with anarchism and nihilism was the systematic terrorism of the organization Narodnaya Volya, which was referred to as anarchist and nihilist in Russian history. Narodnaya Volya’s campaign of terror began with the shooting of St. Petersburg Governor General Trepov on January 24, 1878, and culminated in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. One of its defining characteristics was its use of “individual political assassinations.” Ultimately, the left-wing terror movements that arose in Russia in the mid-19th century are among the most significant early examples of systematic terrorism, leaving a traceable impact on modern-day organized terror movements.
Anti-Colonial Wave: This wave began in the 1920s and continued until the 1960s, marked by acts of violence committed by groups emerging from the independence struggles of people who had lived under colonial rule, especially in the aftermath of World War I and World War II. (Gupta, 2008)
This period is often referred to as the “Anti-Colonial Terror Wave” because the political violence of the time was largely driven by the principle of “self-determination,” or the “right to determine one’s own fate.” During this era, the concept and legal framework of self-determination developed significantly. Several communities used this right to separate from the countries they were part of, forming independent states. Notable terror organizations of this period included the IRA in the United Kingdom, EOKA in Cyprus, and IRGUN, a Jewish terrorist organization led by Menachem Begin, in Palestine.
Third Terror Wave (New Left Terror Wave): Beginning in the 1960s and lasting until the 1979 Iranian Revolution, this wave was characterized by the prevalence of extreme left-wing terrorist organizations, largely influenced by Marxist-Leninist and Maoist ideologies, and the impact of the Vietnam War. The guerrilla warfare tactics effectively used by the Viet Cong against the technologically advanced and heavily armed American military inspired several groups, playing a major role in the emergence of the Third or New Left Terror Wave. The Soviet Union also supported these groups in various ways as part of its Cold War policies. This period is also known as “Third World Terrorism.” Prominent terrorist organizations during this time included the Red Army Faction (RAF), or the Baader-Meinhof Gang, in Germany; the IRA in the United Kingdom; ETA in Spain; the Red Brigades in Italy; and the Armenian terrorist group ASALA. Aircraft hijackings became a distinctive tactic during this era, with over a hundred incidents in the 1970s. Kidnapping and holding important figures hostage was another typical method of this period.
Immediately following this period (1984), the PKK terrorist organization emerged in southeastern Turkey, adopting the philosophy of a new left-wing wave of terrorism and rural guerrilla tactics. The practices implemented by this organization were doctrinally influenced by Che Guevara and Mao. These practices can be summarized as follows: using a three-pronged structure of party, front, and army to initially create a defensive position, subsequently achieve balance, and ultimately, through strategic offensives, establish liberated zones in rural areas within the country to spread the revolution nationwide.
Religious-Based Wave of Terrorism: After the 1950s, we observe that religiously motivated terrorist movements emerged in Algeria, Egypt, in the 1960s in Palestine, after the 1980s in Lebanon, and especially throughout the Middle East. Until the 1990s, Hezbollah and violent movements in Palestine were particularly notable in this context. The impact of the 1979 Iranian revolution and the support from Iran to certain groups influenced this process. The wave of terrorism exploiting religious beliefs began to move beyond a local/regional scope and started to be discussed globally, largely due to Iran’s influence, beginning primarily in the late 1980s and, in the broader sense debated today, after the 1990s.
Global Wave of Terrorism: The globalization process has strengthened connections among societies, cultures, and economies worldwide. However, the increased permeability of borders between states, along with the rapid spread of international trade and communication, has allowed non-state actors to play a more active role. Chief among these actors are terrorist organizations. The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, marked a significant turning point in world history in this regard.
The 9/11 attacks demonstrated that terrorism could now pose a threat on a global scale, independent of national borders. The attacks in New York and Washington created a shockwave not only for the U.S. but also globally, profoundly shaking nations’ perceptions of security. This incident underscored that terrorism could reorganize itself by using technology and global communication to create a cross-border threat.
Following the attacks, the United States chose to combat terrorism with a military strategy, initiating wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under U.S. leadership, global alliances were formed with the aim of combating states and organizations that supported terrorism. The first and most significant role in shaping and eroding the concepts of terror and terrorism after the 9/11 attacks was played by the U.S. administration under President George W. Bush. Through the simultaneous military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, launched under the premise of “liberating” these countries, Bush’s “you’re either with us or against us” doctrine began to shape global policies on what constitutes terror and who is deemed a terrorist according to U.S.-imposed standards. This binary thinking shaped how terrorism was defined worldwide.
The power vacuum in Iraq following the U.S.’s Second Gulf Operation and the ensuing ethnic and sectarian conflicts paved the way for the emergence of the terrorist organization ISIS, initially an Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan. Strengthened by the Syrian civil war, ISIS rapidly expanded, especially after seizing Mosul in 2014, and declared a “caliphate,” claiming to have established an Islamic state. Utilizing extreme violence and propaganda to increase its influence, the organization gained control over vast areas in Iraq and Syria. However, over time, it lost territory and diminished in effectiveness due to interventions by the international coalition.
In response to the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli state launched a military operation aimed at erasing Palestine from the map, indiscriminately targeting children, the elderly, and the sick, which has deeply wounded consciences worldwide. We reserve this matter for discussion in a separate article.
Turkey, as an example of how terror laws are abused;
After the false flag coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government labeled thousands of political dissidents as terrorists. Simply labeling individuals or groups as terrorists does not make them terrorists; this notion contradicts the historical reality explained in this article.
The judiciary became a tool for silencing opposition.
Many innocent people are wrongfully accused of terrorism for political reasons.
A powerful historical analogy which is standing in front of us:
It should not be forgotten that Robespierre, who gifted the concept of modern terror to history, ultimately became a victim of terror himself. Throughout history, revolutions have always devoured their own children.
This serves as a warning that those who abuse power may eventually become victims of the same system.
Modern definition of terrorism is often politically manipulated rather than objectively defined. By tracing historical terrorist movements, it shows that terrorism is not a modern invention but has existed since ancient times. Terrorism should be examined in its historical and political context, rather than being used as a tool for justifying wars, oppression, or political agendas.
References
ÇİTLİOĞLU Ercan., 2005, Gri Tehdit Terörizm,
ALTUĞ Yılmaz , 1995, Terörün Anatomisi
ALTUĞ Yılmaz , 2011, Terörizm Sorunu
GUPTA Dipak K. , 2008, Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence
WOODCOCK George , 2004, Anarchism