By Kamil Yilmaz and Joe Whittaker
The past decade has seen several lone actor attacks conducted by men who identify as involuntary celibate (incels). The movement is well-known for being an online community of men who go online to discuss their inability to form sexual or romantic relationships, often resulting in extremely misogynistic online posts. While there is some debate to the number of attacks that can be classified as terrorism (as is often the case within terrorism studies), well-known attacks include: Isla Vista in 2014, Toronto in 2018, Tallahassee in 2018, and Pheonix in 2020. One thing has typically bound these attacks together: they take place within Western liberal democracies. In 2023, Baele and colleagues outlined nine incel-related attacks, all of which took place within the US, Canada, or the UK. Similarly, the Anti-Defamation League lists 36 incel attacks and plots that took place within North America, Europe, and New Zealand. This is not to say that all incels are from the West – online posts make clear references to being located in several countries around the world and surveys demonstrate a wide set of ethnic demographics – so it is interesting that, so far, violence has been relatively contained to the West.
On October 4, 2024, 19-year-old Semih Çelik brutally murdered two women – Ayşenur Halil and İkbal Uzuner– in Istanbul. He murdered them within 30 minutes of one another, startling Turkey with the rapid and gory nature of the attacks. According to reports, the perpetrator’s long-term obsession with both women led to their targeting. He committed suicide after the killings, leaving the country in shock over his brutality and motives.
It has been speculated that Çelik was linked to an incel chat on a WhatsApp group. In 2022, he had dropped out of school and worked in a butcher shop for about four months. His workmates described him to be an introvert. Following the incident, the Turkish police investigated his laptop and found that all data had been wiped off except for one video, in which he talks about his plans about killing the second woman and committing suicide. His room at his house was found to be ornated with drawings and symbols that indicated his infatuation with violent rituals à la satanists, as well as novels featuring violence and other books that focus on convincing or manipulating people. In his statement given to the police, Celik’s father said “he used to turn off his laptop when we entered his room. It was protected with a password. We were not able to see what he was doing with his laptop.”
The killer also had substantial mental health issues. His father noted that his son received psychiatric treatment five times and had previously made a suicide attempt. Incels are well-known for having exceptionally poor mental health, with a recent report (by one of the authors of this blog) finding that 39% of their sample scored highly enough on a depression questionnaire for a medical referral. This included around one in five who reported that they had suicidal thoughts on a daily basis. Of course, depression – or any other mental health issue – does not cause extremist violence and it is not a justification for it.
Despite the lack of clarity as to whether the killer was part of their movement, Turkish incels seem to have celebrated the brutal attacks and praised him. There are currently two posts on X which were posted by a verified account which identifies as being both Turkish and incel. The description of the account includes a legal disclaimer, which reads “The posts on this page are made by a group, not by an individual,” which may suggest that their posts reflect a common view of those in control of the account. The first post is a reply to a post in which the user expresses his/her sorrow over the death of the two women (See Figure 1 below).
Figure 1- Post one on X by an account identifying as Turkish and incel
This post reveals clear misogyny by blaming the victim for her murder, while at the same time distances the perpetrator from themselves: “why does our daughter [sarcasm here] give herself to guys that even men stay away from?”
In a second post, the account also replies to a post which includes an empathetic message for the two victims (See Figure 2 below).
Figure 2 – Post two on X by an account identifying as Turkish and incel
Here, it is clear that the account blames the victims for “choosing” the wrong type of men (i.e., ‘scoundrels’), an idea that conforms with the incel ideology, while suggesting that the perpetrator is not seen as an in-group by Turkish incels. One should also note that the post has “limited visibility” on X, which means they have algorithmically downranked it because of its hateful content.
Turkish authorities have taken more aggressive action against incel groups and misogynistic violence as a result of the incident, which has reignited the national debate about violence against women andonline radicalisation. One concrete measure taken by the Turkish government was a court decision blocking the social media platform Discord on October 9 over concerns that “so-called incel groups and others use it to spread images of violence and sexual abuse of children and women.” Turkey has a long history of blocking websites that do not comply with local law. This, of course, raises questions about censorship and the limits of free expression, but it is certainly a call that has been made several times in the West too.
Regardless of whether it transpires that the perpetrator himself was an incel or not, this incident – and the subsequent social media activity – demonstrates that inceldom exists and is active in countries outside of the West. Taken as a strand of violent misogyny, this is not surprising. Violence against women remains a consistent scourge across the world and, just like in the West, many men who feel disillusioned with societal norms have developed misogynistic attitudes. However, it shows that this very specific type of ideological misogyny has a long reach. Whatever the type of intervention that is appropriate for incels – be it counter terrorism, other avenues of the criminal justice system, or mental health – the incident further demonstrates that gender roles and dynamics are key to understanding such violence, and therefore countering it too.
Dr. Yilmaz currently works as a post-doctoral researcher at the Cyber Threats Research Centre (CyTREC), Swansea University in the UK.
Dr. Joe Whittaker is a senior lecturer in Criminology, Sociology, and Social Policy at Swansea University.
IMAGE CREDIT: PEXELS
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