EXTREMISMTurkey Attacker Inspired by Accelerationism and Mass Killers, Manifesto Shows

An 18-year-old suspect who livestreamed himself stabbing multiple people near a mosque in the Turkish city of Eskişehir on August 12, 2024, was fueled by the extremist belief in accelerationism and motivated by past mass killers including white supremacists, an analysis by the ADL Center on Extremism has shown. 

Wearing a skull mask and a tactical vest with a sonnenrad patch — both common symbols utilized by white supremacists and accelerationists — and armed with a hatchet and two knives, the teen injured at least five people during the filmed attack, which quickly circulated on X and Telegram. He was later apprehended and detained by police. 

The investigation by COE found that on the day of the stabbings, the assailant created a Telegram chat where he shared a file containing his “manifesto” — which was rife with antisemitism — and other extremist publications. Just minutes before the attack, another Telegram user reshared links to the manifesto and forwarded a post from the suspect with the planned time of the attack, announcing the “STREAM WILL START IN A FEW MINUTES.”  Following the attack, that same user shared a recording of the attacker’s livestream. 

Turkish media outlets have reported that the assailant discussed the attack with someone from Eastern Europe on Steam, a gaming and social media platform.  

Attacker’s Screed  
A review of the attacker’s “manifesto” indicated that he harbors extreme misanthropic and racist views; was inspired by many prior mass killers, including white supremacists; and was driven by accelerationism, an extremist belief that society is irredeemable, collapse is inevitable and the best course of action is to “accelerate” this collapse through chaos and violence.  

In his manifesto, the attacker wrote “[t]his system will eventually collapse … [m]y actions and yours will accelerate this collapse and sooner or later the country, and then the world, will be covered in anarchy.” He also urged readers to “go to the nearest electrical transformer station and sabotage it … you can even take it to the next level and cut down the electrical transmission towers in any forest.”  

Such calls for sabotage are often seen in accelerationist propaganda.  

Describing himself as a “National Socialist,” the attacker expressed hatred for a range of people, including Kurds, Jews, communists, feminists and Black people. He referenced Jews more than any other group, encouraging others to attack synagogues, sharing antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and promoting the false claim that Jews finance degeneracy.