A comparative study of counter-terrorism policies in Turkey and Spain

Terrorism is defined as the use of violence systematically to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. In other words, terrorism is a way of doing politics, yet it can be defined as the most radical way of politics. As for separatist terrorism, it is the acts of force aiming at separating a particular region from the country it is bounded to.The roots of ethnic separatist movements in Turkey and Spain date back to the 19th century. Until today, radicalization of Kurdish question in Turkey and Basque question in Spain, because of various reasons, has ended up PKK terrorist organization in Turkey and ETA terrorist organization in Spain.Following the shocking initial terrorist attacks of PKK in 1984 has posed a serious threat for Turkey likewise, ETA has posed a serious threat for Spain since 1968. Both Turkey and Spain have sought various solutions for the ethnic separatist terrorism question. In this way, it is important to understand the circumstances that give rise to the emergence of the ethnic separatist terrorism, to acquire knowledge about the PKK and ETA terrorist organizations and to analyze Turkey and Spain?s launched counter-terrorism policies through their particular frameworks.