Divergent Nature of Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis on PKK and ISIS/ISIL

Terrorism is affecting all human beings regardless of time, place, and nationality such as the case of brutal ISIS/ISIL attacks that took place in the center of Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2016. Mostly foreigners, twenty-two people have killed in the Holey Artisan Café during this attack. The terrorist organization of ISIS/ISIL claimed responsibility for this criminal act. This violent assault made one thing certain that the struggle against terrorism is increasingly getting more problematic and solutions are becoming more complicated. On the other side terrorist organization of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK/KCK/KONGRA-GEL) has been trying to terrorize provinces in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. In Turkey, PKK made strategic changes many times since its first action in 1984. However, there are some basic differences between these two terrorist organizations. For instance, while secular terrorist organization PKK restricts its violence, ISIS/ISIL as a religiously motivated terrorist organization has no limit in its violence. This article offers one of the first systematic comparative analyses based on PKK vs. ISIS/ISIL in terms of their major components. By doing so, the study is aiming to make a significant contribution to the existing terrorism literature by using the cases of PKK andISIS/ISIL. Besides, although there are abundant definitions of terrorism in the literature, this article will also try to find out a common and concise expression for terrorism.

Karadağ, H. Sıkı, İ. (2021). Divergent Nature of Terrorism:A Comparative Analysis on PKK and ISIS/ISIL, The Academic Elegance, 8(15), 341-360.