Abstract:Radicalism and the acceptance of violent indoctrinations is a lengthy process of being subjected to the radical ideas and terrorist recruiters, especially for the young people. It is essential to interrupt the radicalization process at the very early stages of this illicit interaction so that to be recruited candidates could be saved. Dr. Yayla, from this perspective, has established a system of an early intervention to ensure people are deterred and prevented from joining terrorist organizations. The system basically includes there stages. The first stage is understanding the indicators of terrorist interactions to recruit new members in order to be able identify the people under the threat of terrorist propaganda. The second stage is reaching out to the young people and their families who are under direct or indirect influence and threat of terrorist propaganda and who are considered and reasoned to be possible fresh and future recruits of any terrorist organizations to convey the message that “violence is not a solution” and to emphasize and realize parent’s presumed objections to any children’s joining to a terrorist organization and ruining his or her future. The third is to counter the ideology and radical ideas of terrorists via the efforts of persuasion through appropriate mediums. This research and application of the system is conducted in Sanliurfa scientifically.
Vortrag in englischer Sprache
Vita:Dr. Yayla is currently working as a tenured Professor and the Chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Harran, Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Sanliurfa, Turkey and presently on academic leave while co-directing the ISIS Defectors Interview Project, with a colleague at Georgetown University.
Dr. Yayla also served as Chief of Counter-terrorism and Operations Division at the Turkish National Police in charge of administrative oversight of counter-terrorism actions along the Turkey-Syria border.
Dr. Yayla’s research mainly focuses on terrorism, radicalization and countering violence extremism (CVE). He has authored several articles and books on the subject of terrorism and violence. Among the most recent is “Inside ISIS: First Person Accounts from ISIS Defectors”, Journal of Perspectives in Terrorism, December 2015.
Dr. Yayla over the years has interviewed cadres representing over twenty terrorist organizations. The ISIS defectors interviews of late, are unique in the world as he was one of the first researchers who managed to reach ISIS defectors hiding in Turkey and persuade them to talk about their stories openly. The results of this research is forthcoming in academic articles and a book entitled, “ISIS Defectors: Inside Stories of Confronting the Caliphate.”
Due to his accomplishments in the field, Dr. Yayla was invited on October 21, 2006 to the U.S. Senate, Homeland Security Committee and Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attacks as an expert witness.