2016 T.C. YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DISSERTATION ISIS: THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE MESSIANIC VIOLENT NON-STATE ACTOR IN SYRIA PhD Dissertation Ufuk Ulutaş Ufuk Ulutaş PhD INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Ankara, 2016 ISIS: THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE MESSIANIC VIOLENT NON-STATE ACTOR IN SYRIA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITY BY UFUK ULUTAŞ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILISOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AUGUST 2016 2 Approval of the Institute of Social Sciences Yrd.Doç. SeyfullahYıldırım Manager of Institute I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr.Birol Akgün Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Birol Akgün Prof. Muhittin Ataman Supervisor Co-Supervisor Examining CommitteeMembers Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün YBÜ, IR Prof. Dr. Muhittin Ataman YBÜ, IR Doç Dr. Mehmet Şahin Gazi, IR Prof. Dr. Erdal Karagöl YBÜ, Econ Dr. Nihat Ali Özcan TOBB, IR 3 I hereby declare that all information in this thesis has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work; otherwise I accept all legal responsibility. Ufuk Ulutaş i To my mom, ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There is a long list of people to thank who offered their invaluable assistance and insights on ISIS. While working at SETA, I have participated in countless meetings all over the world and conducted research on Syria and ISIS related issues both inside Syria and in the Turkish border region. I would like to thank all SETA staff from its General Coordinator Burhanettin Duran to the administrative employees for their financial and academic assistance and encouragement while conducting this research. Bilal Salaymeh of SETA has been of particular help. Some of the names I interviewed for this study inside Syria and Iraq were killed, some by ISIS. Their insight and first-hand experience with ISIS made writing this thesis possible. Without their contributions, this study would have been a mere literature review of the journalistic works and news items. Khalid Khoja, of the Syrian National Coalition, especially helped me a lot in setting up meetings with Syrians from the political opposition and the armed groups. My family has always supported me in my academic life, and thanks to their encouragement I have finished writing this study. The one-million dollar question they kept asking “when are you finishing your dissertation?” has been a major motivation. A special thanks goes to my son, İlter Yusuf, who always amazed me with his questions on international politics, the Syrian crisis as well as ISIS. While I was working on the last chapter, a Messianic group inside the Turkish armed forces attempted a coup against the democratically elected government in Turkey. The coup was botched due to the heroic resistance of the Turkish people from all walks of life. I am indebted to those who sacrificed their lives for the future of this beautiful country, Turkey. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ……………………………….…………………………………..................I ABSTRACT ………………………………....…………………………………………….. İİ ÖZET……………………………………………...………………………………………. İİİ DEDICATION …………………………………...……………………………...…………İV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………...…… V TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………...….. Vİ LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………..……………………...… Vİİİ LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………….………………………. İX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………….……………………X CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 4 1.2. CONTRIBUTIONS ...................................................................................................... 7 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................ 8 1.4. METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION ................................................................. 9 1.5. LIMITATIONS.......................................................................................................... 13 1.6. STUDY PLAN .......................................................................................................... 14 2. CONCEPTUALIZATION: THE VIOLENT NON-STATE ACTORS (VNSA) AND IR THEORIES ............................................................................................................................. 18 2.1. VIOLENT NON-STATE ACTORS .............................................................................. 19 2.2. IR THEORIES AND THE VIOLENT NON-STATE ACTORS .......................................... 25 2.3. ISIS AS A VIOLENT NON-STATE ACTOR ................................................................ 29 3. THE HISTORY OF ISIS: ITS WEB OF ALLIANCES AND LEADER .................................. 33 3.1. ABDULLAH AZZAM AND THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF SALAFI-JIHADI IDEOLOGY ... 35 3.2. THE CHIEF IDEOLOGUE OF ISIS: ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI ................................. 39 3.3. THE SAHWA COUNCILS, THE IRAQIZATION EFFORTS, AND THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN ISI AND SADDAM ERA OFFICERS ....................................................................................... 49 3.4. THE EMIR OF ISIS: ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI ...................................................... 57 4. THE ROOTS OF ISIS’ IDEOLOGY ................................................................................. 67 4.1. MANAGEMENT OF SAVAGERY: HOW IT SHAPED ISIS’ TERROR STRATEGY ........... 70 4.2. MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS AND ISIS’ PURPORTED ROLE IN APOCALYPTIC EVENTS80 4.3. LICENSE TO KILL: TAKFIRISM AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ISIS’ MILITARY STRATEGY ......................................................................................................................... 86 iv 4.4. THE NOTION OF THE CALIPHATE IN THE IDEOLOGY OF ISIS .................................. 91 5. THE POWER STRUCTURE OF ISIS: THE LEADERSHIP AND MILITANT PROFILES ...... 96 5.1. POWER STRUCTURE OF ISIS .................................................................................. 97 5.2. THE PROFILES OF THE ISIS MILITANTS ................................................................ 103 5.3. THE FOREIGN FIGHTERS ...................................................................................... 107 6. FROM ISI TO ISIS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF ISI/ISIS IN SYRIA ......................... 110 6.1. THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN ISI/ISIS AND THE SYRIAN INSURGENTS .................. 112 6.2. THE EVOLUTION OF THE CLASHES BETWEEN ISIS AND THE SYRIAN INSURGENTS 120 6.3. THE MUTUALISTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ISIS AND THE ASSAD REGIME ....... 129 7. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 136 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 143 9. APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ 157 A- APPENDIX 1: THE SEQUENCE OF TERRITORIAL POSSESSIONS .................................. 157 B- CURRICULUM VITAE ................................................................................................ 189 v LIST OFTABLES TABLES Table 1 ISIS Leadership with the Camp Bucca Experience.....................................36 Table 2 Raqqa………...............................................................................................39 Table 3 Aleppo…………..........................................................................................43 Table 4 Deir ez-Zor..................................................................................................36 Table 5 Haseke……..................................................................................................39 Table 6 Humus …………..........................................................................................43 Table 7 The Territory Captured by ISIS....................................................................36 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure1 Stages of the ISIS Caliphate. 28 Figure2 Responsibilities of the Shura Council 30 Figure3 ISIS Provinces in Syria and Iraq 30 Figure4 Territorial Control Map of Syria (As of August 2016) 30 vii LIST OFABBREVIATIONS AQI Al-Qaeda in Iraq AQM Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ASC Anbar Salvation Council CAIR Council on American–Islamic Relations FSA Free Syrian Army ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISI Islamic State of Iraq JASJ Jaysh Al-Sunna w’Al-Jamaat JTJ Jamaat Al-Tawhid w’al-Jihad MSC Mujahedeen Shura Council NSA Non-State Actors PKK Kurdistan Workers' Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê) SAA Syrian Arab Army SDF Syrian Democratic Forces VNSA Violent Non-State Actors YPG People's Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel) viii 1. Introduction ISIS has come under the spotlight and gained an unexpected amount of publicity in the last few years mostly because of its expansion: largely due to the failed state in Iraq and the Syrian crisis. However, ISIS is a terrorist group with insurgent qualities which has a track record of activity