Disengaging from Terrorism - Lessons from the Turkish Penitents

Kamil Yilmaz, Chief Superintendent in the Turkish National Police, completed his doctorate at Columbia University, USA

• 1. Introduction  2. Historical and Social Contexts  3. Separation Stage: Turkish Penitents’ Paths to Political Violence  4. Transition Stage I: Life in the PKK and Revolutionary Groups  5. Transition Stage II: Causes of Disillusionment and Exit from the Groups  6. Transition Stage III: Difficulties and Resources for Disengagement  7. Reincorporation: Politics of Repentance and Life after Violence  8. Conclusion

"This is an excellent and conceptually innovative ethnographic examination of the processes of individualdisengagement from terrorism in Turkey through an interview-based reconstruction of the lives of 13 formerterrorists from the Kurdish PKK as well as left-wing revolutionary terrorist organizations. It explores whether obstacles and inhibitions were present for leaving a group, analyzing also the differences and similarities between the penitents who left a leftist-revolutionary group and those who exited from a separatist organization such as the PKK. In addition, the author analyzes what their current positions in society and 'states of mind” are. This will contribute greatly to the stability of any given society by enticing active members of terrorist organizations to disengage from terrorism."—Joshua Sinai, Perspectives on Terrorism, Volume 12, Issue 4