SEMPATİZAN, FAİL?: DÖRT DALGADA KADIN TERÖRİSTLER

Abstract

When the history of terrorism is examined, it is seen that women form an integral part of it. Throughout history, women have participated in terrorist organizations and engaged in violent activities all around the world. These women have been active in almost all levels and have played multiple roles within such organizations. These roles can sometimes be in the form of a passive sympathy, or they may also be in the form of supportive roles that are vital for the organization. Giving birth to the future generations and doctrinization of these generations which are vital for the continuation of conflicts, propaganda activities, recruitment, fundraising and intelligence gathering are just a few of them. However, over time, these supporting roles have begun to turn into operational roles which are more deadly and women have began directly to involve in violent activities. In recent times, women terrorists emerging as suicide bombers and have carried out more successful and deadly attacks compare to their malecounterparts. This article aims to examine the participation of women in terrorist organizations and the change of their roles in these organizations in the long history of terrorism through the classification of David Rapoport's Four Waves of Terrorism. Although women have played an important role in terrorist organizations since the emergence of modern terrorism, their activities were mostly limited to supportive roles. Women terrorists rarely took part in the leadership positions and were not effective in decision making mechanisms in terrorist organizations.