What Is Terror and Who Is a Terrorist?

In October 2023, thousands of civilians lost their lives, first in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli territory and then in Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Both the parties and their supporters described each other as terrorists.

In a conflict that has lasted for years, both sides claim to be fighting to defend their land. In a conflict that has lasted for years, civilians and innocents on both sides are losing their lives.

It is a debate that has gone unresolved for years and will remain unresolved for many years to come: What is terror, and who is a terrorist?

Terror is one of the most complex and controversial issues that societies and states have faced throughout history. It is a phenomenon that deeply affects the social, economic and political structures of societies and manifests itself through unlawful and disproportionate acts of violence. Yet there is no agreed universal answer to the questions of what terror is and who a terrorist is. This is because the definitions that emerge vary with time, place and events, and even with personal or social perspectives.

To cite an example often given, an activist seen by some as a freedom fighter may be described by others as a terrorist. This clearly reveals the subjectivity and relativity of the concepts.

As Turkey, the Middle East and many other countries and regions fight the changing face of terrorism, they need clear and fair definitions of terror and terrorist so that this fight can be conducted properly. Although terror is defined, in a general and simple approach, as acts of violence carried out for political, ideological or religious purposes, it has so far not been possible to reach an international consensus on the scope and limits of this definition.[1]

Acts of violence around the world have shown that terror is not the problem of a single country or region but a global threat. Indeed, from the Cold War to the present day, there have been many turning points in the evolution of the concepts of terror and terrorist. This evolution has affected not only the causes, methods and targets of terrorism but also the perceptions and approaches of states and societies.

The difficulty in efforts to define it stems mainly from conflicting international interests. Radical interpretations of religions and rising ideological and militant nationalist rhetoric also hamper these efforts.

The threat perceptions of societies and states play an important role in shaping definitions of terror and related concepts. At the same time, the nature of terrorism, its methods and its targets have changed over time. Technological advances, globalisation, sociopolitical changes and ideological shifts have changed the character of terrorist acts. However, some elements have remained constant no matter how much the essence of terrorism has changed.

At this point I think it is important to examine the changing and unchanging elements in the evolution of terrorism, highlighting their notable aspects. These elements, which deserve attention in the context of both individual terrorist acts and state-sponsored terrorism, are also important for understanding the complex structure and historical course of terrorism. With examples of how these elements interact, we will try to show the many dimensions of the subject. In this framework, we will make our study concrete by referring to real events and examples of terrorist acts.

In setting out the unchanging and changing elements of terrorism, we will focus particularly on developments over the last century and draw on the chronological classification of the American political scientist David C. Rapoport. Rapoport is an expert on international relations and terrorism, known for his frequently cited work examining the historical evolution of terrorism.

Rapoport’s theory of “The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism” divides the historical development of terrorism into four separate “waves”[2]:

1. The Anarchist Wave (1880s to 1920s): In this period, anarchists carried out acts against monarchist governments. The most distinctive feature of this wave was assassinations and acts carried out by individuals alone or in small groups. Among the best-known acts of this wave are the assassinations of Russian Tsar Alexander II in 1881 and US President William McKinley in 1901.
2. The Anti-Colonial Wave (1920s to 1960s): In this period, national liberation movements fighting colonialism and imperialism emerged. These movements used acts of violence to win their national independence. The National Liberation Front of Algeria, which fought French colonial rule, for example, belongs to this wave.
3. The New Left Wave (1960s to 1990s): In this period, terrorist movements based on socialist and Marxist ideologies emerged. These movements claimed to be fighting capitalism, imperialism and the cultural values of the West. Examples within this wave include the PKK in Turkey, the Red Army Faction in West Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy.
4. The Religious Wave (from 1979 to the present): In this period, terrorist movements based on various religious ideologies came to the fore. Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Aum Shinrikyo are among the representatives of this wave.

In our next article, drawing also on Rapoport’s classification, we will take a closer look at the unchanging and then the changing elements of terrorism.