For the Turkish foreign policy, the years between 1945 and 1960 constitute a period in which certain political policies that had long-term effects were followed and relations with other countries underwent fundamental changes. In this time period, despite limited means and hard conditions, Turkey joined the Western Bloc and became one of the active participants of the Cold War because of its importance and the threat perception it felt from the Soviet Union based on its geopolitical situation. In this study, the real affect of the Soviet threat as posed to Turkish sovereignty and territorial integrity during the 15-year period is analyzed. To this effect, the research is divided into two periods. The first period consists of the years between 1945 and 1952, where Soviet effects on Turkish foreign policy were at their zenith, although official Soviet-Turkish relations were rare in contrast to other periods explored in this study. The key characteristics of this period are that Turkish foreign policy was extremely affected by the phoniness of Soviet-Turkish relations in the interwar period and the Soviet threat that took place between 1939 and 1947. Because of these conditions, in spite of the fact that the Soviet threat to Turkey diminished after 1947, Turkish foreign policy diversified and the main objective of Turkish policy-makers transitioned into a goal to join all economic, political and military organizations founded by the Western Bloc. This endeavor swung a punch at the economic, social and political evolution that had took place from the founding of the country and laid substantial groundwork for Turkish foreign policy after 1952, in spite of American economic, political and military provisions. The second period lasts from the point of Turkey's entrance into NATO and Soviet renunciation of their demands on Turkish territory and Straits to the Turkish military coup of 1960. These years represent the period in which official Turkish-Soviet relations intensified while the Soviet effect on Turkish foreign policy was nadir. Characteristics of this period include the shift to national interests of the Republic of Turkey as the top priority, replacing the search for security against the Soviet threat that had been prevalent in the previous period. These national interests amounted to the need to be a regional power in the Balkans and the Middle East â which had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire for centuries â as well as recognizing the economic development in Turkey. To reach these aims, Turkish politicians wanted to create in the populace the notion that the Soviet threat had not disappeared for Turkey or the Middle East. This planting of information heralded the second break in the Turkish evolution process through the Turks alteration from their traditional behavior pattern which was returning to the balance of power policy as soon as the threat vanished. However, the new Turkish policies did not result in economic development and their goal to be a regional power and so, decision-makers implemented policies inconsistent with the Turkish past and created more breaks in the evolution process. Another argument presented in the study is that during this early post-war period Turkish-Soviet relations were lived in the shadows of Turkish-American relations and more importantly, American-Soviet relations; because of this, the Soviet effect on Turkish foreign policy grew weaker with each passing year. The subject of this study in not Soviet-Turkish relations but Soviet effects on Turkish foreign policy between 1945 and 1960 because this study incorporated and benefited largely from Turkish and American sources . To simply title this study Soviet-Turkish relations it would lack Soviet point of view and its historical validity would by doubted. This is not to discredit Turkish-American relations that are highly important in order to decipher the underlying effects of the relations clearly. / A Thesis Submitted to the Interdisciplinary Program in Russian and East European
Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of
Arts. / Spring Semester, 2010. / March 16, 2010. / Foreign Policy, Cold War, Turkey, Soviet Union / Includes bibliographical references. / Jonathan Grant, Professor Directing Thesis; Michael H. Creswell, Committee Member; Dala L. Smith, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_175981 |
| Contributors | Ulgul, Murat (authoraut), Grant, Jonathan (professor directing thesis), Creswell, Michael H. (committee member), Smith, Dala L. (committee member), Program in Russian and East European Studies (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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