Cinematographic terrorism: semiotic analysis of a terrorist organization with unique propaganda methods and film techniques (DAESH example)

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the US and its Western allies identified the Middle East as the source of terror and began to carry out numerous military operations in this region from thousands of kilometers away. The fact that the region is fragile in historical and sectarian terms has become uncontrollable due to the effects of internal conflicts and sectarian fights. The conflict that arose as a result of the persecution, victimization and polarization experienced by the people of the region caused the people of the region to join some armed groups in order to ensure their safety. Terrorist organizations evaluated these complaints well and increased participation in the terror organization, identified enemy profiles and encouraged their members to take action. DAESH, one of the largest terrorist organizations that organized large-scale activities especially in Iraq and Syria, from the time the organization declared the caliphate in 2014 until 2018, became a globally recognized terrorist organization thanks to its effective propaganda strategy and good use of various media tools such as social media. The fact that the propaganda content produced by ISIS has cinematographic aesthetics and that it is prepared in such a way that the cinema audience will not be alienated, is within the scope of the study. The main purpose of the study is to analyze these videos produced by DAESH. The samples chosen from the videos produced by the organization with purposive sampling method were analyzed with Christian Metz 'specific codes and cultural codes concepts and Roland Barhtes' denotation, connotation, metaphor, metonymy and myth consepts. As a result of these analyzes, it was concluded that these publications of ISIS applied some form of cinematographic terror not only with weapons but also with video materials.