Author(s)

Ahmet Turer^*, Robyn Diehl McDougle

L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Research Summary: This study explores the impact of sincerity of terrorists on committing terrorist activities in Turkey. One of the researchers is a Chief of Police in Turkey and has worked in the Anti-terror Department for a considerable part of his professional career. His professional experience has shown that the more sincere a terrorist is the more violent or heedless the terrorist activity is. Thus this research academically and statistically examines this observation and finds that sincerity affects the level of violence. Attachment and adherence to the terrorist organization turn even the characteristically non-violent people into blood seeking terrorists. Policy Implications: Terrorism is still one of the major challenges that the contemporary world faces today. Governments, policy makers, and other stakeholders have great difficulty identifying effective legal mechanisms for fighting terrorism, mainly because of uncertainties regarding both the targets and offenders of terrorist acts. The current study suggests two types of policy implementations. The first is to improve socioeconomic conditions so that people will be less vulnerable to terrorist recruitment, a tactic that requires the identification of risk groups. The second is to detect terrorists and their networks, a tactic that requires the use of different types of intelligence and preventive interventions in the locations that terrorists primarily use for recruitment. The former implementation is a long-term and large-scale project, whereas the latter one is a short-term, small-scale project that appears to be more promising. The two are, however, interrelated. Simply implementing the second tactic could prevent terrorism, but in the absence of the first tactic, terrorist groups will likely find other fertile ground in which to flourish.

Terrorism, Sincerity/Fidelity, Turkey, Policy

Turer, A. and McDougle, R. (2015) The Impact of Sincerity of Terrorists on Committing Terrorist Activities in Turkey. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 3, 265-276. doi: 10.4236/jss.2015.39034.