RT Article
T1 The Turkish foreign fighters and the dynamics behind their flow into Syria and Iraq
JF Terrorism and political violence
VO 32
IS 6
SP 1329
OP 1347
A1 Haner, Murat
A2 Wichern, Ashley
A2 Fleenor, Marissa
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1831800896
AB During the past decade, the flow of foreign fighters into conflict zones has emerged as a serious problem that deserves policy intervention. Based on latent content analysis of 89 interviews conducted with Turkish nationals, we examined the factors that influenced the mobilization of foreign fighters into Syria. Informed by the existing literature, the analysis revealed that the decision to engage in foreign fighting was influenced by five factors: a) peer pressure coming from religious networks; b) socialization with Islamic State fighters; c) low levels of risk associated with travel; d) favorable life conditions compared to previous jihad locations; and e) the opportunity to exact revenge. Our findings indicated that Turkish individuals’ decisions to participate in foreign fighting is predominantly influenced by peer pressure coming from preexisting networks. The risk of being acknowledged as a coward, a hypocrite, or disloyal, and the risk of exclusion from religious networks motivated Turkish foreign fighters’ decision to travel to conflict zones.
NO Gesehen am 23.01.2023
NO Published online: 25 Jun 2018
K1 Foreign fighting
K1 Islamic State
K1 Radicalization
K1 Jihad
K1 Turkish fighters
DO 10.1080/09546553.2018.1471398