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Translated from Finnish Internal security | Publications of the Ministry of the Interior 2019:31 Jihadism in Finland Leena Malkki and Juha Saarinen Publications of the Ministry of the Interior 2019:31 Jihadism in Finland Leena Malkki and Juha Saarinen Ministry of the Interior, Helsinki 2019 Ministry of the Interior ISBN PDF: 978-952-324-302-6 Helsinki 2019 Description sheet Published by Ministry of the Interior 9 September 2019 Authors Leena Malkki and Juha Saarinen Title of publication Jihadism in Finland Series and publication Publications of the Ministry of the Interior 2019:31 number Register number SMDno-2018-46 Subject Internal security ISBN PDF 978-952-324-302-6 ISSN PDF 2490-077X Website address URN http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-324-302-6 Pages 124 Language English Keywords extremist movements, radicalisation, armed conflicts, terrorism Abstract The aim of this study is to provide a broad overview of jihadism in Finland in the 2010s. The study is based on open source data that has been supplemented with interviews. Jihadist activism in Finland remains relatively low scale when compared to other western European countries, but the number of individuals involved has grown significantly during the 2010s. The most important factor contributing to this has been the conflict in Syria and Iraq, which, in addition to mobilising new activ- ists, has had a uniting effect on an otherwise fragmented milieu. Despite this, the Finnish jihadist milieu is still mostly fragmented and unorganised. In Finland, jihadist activism consists mainly of small-scale, non-violent support activities. The most significant development has been the notable increase in travel to conflict zones abroad. The only jihadist attack to-date was the knife attack in Turku in August 2017, and there have been no publicly known serious plots. As of early 2019, the most active growth phase connected to the conflict in Syria and Iraq seems to be losing its momen- tum. The activism that emerged in connection with the conflict has, however, had an indelible impact on the jihadist milieu in Finland. The study was carried out alongside the Jihadist online communication and Finland study. Publisher Ministry of the Interior Publication sales/ Online version: julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi Distributed by Publication sales: vnjulkaisumyynti.fi Kuvailulehti Julkaisija Sisäministeriö 9.9.2019 Tekijät Leena Malkki ja Juha Saarinen Julkaisun nimi Jihadistinen liikehdintä Suomessa Julkaisusarjan nimi Sisäministeriön julkaisuja 2019:31 ja numero Diaari/hankenumero SMDno-2018-46 Teema Sisäinen turvallisuus ISBN PDF 978-952-324-302-6 ISSN PDF 2490-077X URN-osoite http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-324-302-6 Sivumäärä 124 Kieli englanti Asiasanat ääriliikkeet, radikalisoituminen, aseelliset konfliktit, terrorismi Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on muodostaa yleiskuva jihadistisesta liikehdinnästä Suomessa 2010-luvun aikana. Tutkimus perustuu avoimesti saatavilla olevaan aineistoon, jota on täydennetty haastatteluilla. Jihadistinen aktivismi on Suomessa edelleen moniin muihin Länsi-Euroopan maihin verrattuna vähäistä, mutta siinä mukana olleiden määrä on kasvanut merkit- tävästi 2010-luvulla. Suurin yksittäinen liikehdinnän kehittymiseen vaikuttanut tekijä on ollut Syyrian ja Irakin konflikti, joka on uusien aktivistien mobilisoinnin lisäksi toiminut hajanaista miljöötä yhdistävänä tekijänä. Jihadistinen toiminta Suomessa on tästä huolimatta edelleen enimmäkseen hajanaista ja epäorganisoitunutta. Suurin osa aktivismista on varsin pienimuotoista ja väkivallatonta tukitoimintaa. Merkittävin muutos toimintamuodoissa on konfliktialueelle matkustamisen huomattava yleistyminen. Ainoa Suomessa tapahtunut jihadistinen isku on Turun puukkoisku elokuussa 2017 eikä julkisesti ole tiedossa vakavasti otettavia iskuyrityksiä tai iskusuunnitelmia. Aktiivisin Syyrian ja Irakiin konfliktiin kytkeytynyt kasvuvaihe näyttää alkuvuodesta 2019 olevan hiipumassa. Konfliktin yhtey- dessä nähty aktivismi on kuitenkin jättänyt pysyvät jälkensä jihadistisen toiminnan kenttään Suomessa. Tutkimus on tehty samanaikaisesti Jihadistinen verkkoviestintä ja Suomi -tutkimuksen kanssa. Kustantaja Sisäministeriö Julkaisun Sähköinen versio: julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi myynti/jakaja Julkaisumyynti: vnjulkaisumyynti.fi Presentationsblad Utgivare Inrikesministeriet 9.9.2019 Författare Leena Malkki och Juha Saarinen Publikationens titel Jihadistiska rörelser i Finland Publikationsseriens Inrikesministeriets publikationer 2019:31 namn och nummer Diarie- SMDno-2018-46 Tema Inre säkerhet /projektnummer ISBN PDF 978-952-324-302-6 ISSN PDF 2490-077X URN-adress http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-324-302-6 Sidantal 124 Språk engelska Nyckelord extremiströrelser, radikalisering, beväpnade konflikter, terrorism Referat Målet med denna undersökning är att skapa en allmän bild av jihadistiska rörelser i Finland under 2010-talet. Undersökningen baserar sig på öppet tillgängligt material som har kompletterats med intervjuer. I Finland sker jihadistisk aktivism fortfarande i liten utsträckning jämfört med många andra länder i Västeuropa, men antalet personer som deltagit i den har ökat betydligt på 2010-talet. Den största enskilda faktor som påverkat utvecklingen av rörelserna har varit konflikten i Syrien och Irak, som förutom att mobilisera nya aktivister också har varit en förenande faktor för den splittrade miljön. Trots det är den jihadistiska verksamheten i Finland fortfarande i huvudsak splittrad och oorganiserad. Största delen av aktivismen är småskalig och icke-våldsam stödverksamhet. Den största ändringen i verksamhetsformerna är att det har blivit betydligt vanligare att resa till konfliktområdet. Den enda jihadistiska attacken i Finland har varit knivattacken i Åbo i augusti 2017, och i offentligheten finns det inte information om några seriösa försök till eller planer på attacker. Det mest aktiva skedet för utvidgning i samband med konflikten i Syrien och Irak ser ut att mattas av i början av 2019. Den aktivism som vi har sett i samband med konflikten har dock bestående satt sin prägel på den jihadistiska verksamheten i Finland. Undersökningen har gjorts samtidigt med undersökningen Jihadistisk webbkommunikation och Finland. Förläggare Inrikesministeriet Beställningar/ Elektronisk version: julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi distribution Beställningar: vnjulkaisumyynti.fi Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... 11 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 13 1.1 Research topic and objectives .................................................................................... 14 1.2 Previous research ....................................................................................................... 16 1.3 Data and methods ....................................................................................................... 19 1.4 Limitations of the study ............................................................................................... 21 1.5 Research ethics .......................................................................................................... 24 2 The relationship between jihadism, islamism and salafism ................ 27 2.1 Islamism ...................................................................................................................... 27 2.2 Radical islamism ......................................................................................................... 30 2.3 Salafism ...................................................................................................................... 31 2.4 Jihadism ...................................................................................................................... 33 3 Jihadist activism as a global and European phenomenon .................. 36 3.1 Revolutionary islamism ............................................................................................... 36 3.2 Afghanistan conflict and classical jihadism ................................................................. 38 3.3 Al-Qaeda and global jihadism ..................................................................................... 41 3.4 Global sectarian jihadism of ISIS ................................................................................ 46 3.5 Jihadist activism in Europe from the 1990s to the present .......................................... 52 3.5.1 Arrival of jihadism in Europe ...................................................................... 53 3.5.2 The decade-long evolution of jihadist activism: from the Afghanistan war to Syria ............................................................................ 56 3.5.3 Conflict in Syria and Iraq, ISIS, and the impact on Europe ........................ 59 4 Jihadist activities and Finland ................................................................. 63 4.1 Background: jihadist activities in Finland in the 2000s ................................................ 63 4.1.1 Ansar al-Islam and Rawti Shax ................................................................. 65 4.1.2 Activities in support of Al-Shabaab ............................................................ 69 4.1.3 Links to Al-Qaeda’s support networks ....................................................... 74 4.1.4 Interest in the phenomenon in convert communities ................................. 76 4.2 Jihadist activism in the 2010s .....................................................................................
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