Turkey’s Cold War: Foreign Policy and Western Alignment in the Modern Republic

353 Pages·2017·5.16 MB·English

by  Saban Calis

143 × 222 SPINE: 27 FLAPS: 0
Since the end of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has repeatedly attempted to T TURKEY’S
assert its position as a central strategic nation in the formation of world U
geopolitics. Turkey’s Cold War shows for the first time how the country’s R
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modern foreign policy, in particular during the Cold War, has been shaped by
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an aspiration to become part of the Western world. COLD WAR
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Drawing on a variety of sources, ranging from interviews with key figures S

to unpublished archival material, Şaban Halis Çalış traces this ambition C
back to the 1930s. In doing so, he demonstrates that Turkey’s policy has been O
shaped not just by US and Soviet positions, but also by its own desire both to L FOREIGN POLICY AND
D
reinforce its Kemalist character and to ‘Westernise’. The Cold War, therefore,
can be seen as an opportunity for Turkey to realise its long-held goal and align W WESTERN ALIGNMENT IN
itself economically and politically with the West. This book sheds new light
THE MODERN REPUBLIC
A
on the Cold War and Turkey’s modern diplomacy, and re-orientates existing
R
understandings of modern Turkish identity and its diplomatic history.
ŞABAN HALİS ÇALIŞ
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‘The book goes beyond a classical security-centric account and embraces, to E MSTERE
some degree, a constructivist perspective with its emphasis on ideational and ORIG
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Gökhan ÇetinsaIsytaa,n Pbruolf eŞseshoirr oUf nInivteerrsnitaytional Relations, EPUBLMENTY AN
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‘Çalış comprehensively explains all of the paradoxical developments
that deeply affected Turkey’s internal and external relations during Ş
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the Cold War years.’ B
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A. Nuri Yurdusev, Member & Vice President, N
Turkish Academy of Sciences and Professor of International Relations, H
Middle East Technical University, Ankara A
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Şaban Halis Çalış is Professor of A
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International Relations at Selçuk University, Turkey. I
Ş
Cover image:
US President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Turkish President
İsmet İnönü and British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill at
the Second Cairo Conference,
4–6 December 1943.
www.ibtauris.com
Jacket design: Jeremy Hopes
S¸aban Halis C¸alıs¸ is Professor of International Relations at Sel(cid:1)cuk
University, Turkey. He received his PhD from the University of
Nottingham and was Vice-President of the Turkish Higher Education
Council between 2011 and 2015. In addition to many papers, essays
and articles in Turkish and English, he is also the author of numerous
books in Turkish. He frequently appears on television and radio as a
commentator, and writes occasionally for daily newspapers.
‘Thebookgoesbeyondaclassicalsecurity-centricaccountandembraces,
to some degree, a constructivist perspective with its emphasis on
ideationalandsocietalfactorsinthemakingofTurkishforeignpolicy...
Based on solid and original research, and the author skilfully displays
this throughout the text.’
Go¨khan C¸etinsaya, Professor of International Relations,
Istanbul S¸ehir University
‘This book differs from the other works examining Turkey and her
alignment with the Western world during the Cold War years by the
depth of its analytical approach combining the systemic-level variables
withideationalones,namelyidentity,ideologyandsecurityculture...
C¸alıs¸comprehensivelyexplainsalloftheparadoxicaldevelopmentsthat
deeplyaffectedTurkey’sinternalandexternalrelationsduringtheCold
War years.’
A. Nuri Yurdusev, Member & Vice President, Turkish Academy of
Sciences and Professor of International Relations,
Middle East Technical University, Ankara
Contemporary Turkey, published in collaboration with the British
Institute at Ankara
Series editor: Gu¨lnur Aybet, Professor and Head of the Department of
Political Science and International Relations, Bah(cid:1)ces¸ehir University,
Istanbul
New and forthcoming titles:
Turkey and the Politics of National Identity: Social, Economic and Cultural
Transformation, edited by Shane Brennan and Marc Herzog
TurkeyandtheUSintheMiddleEast:DiplomacyandDiscordduringtheIraq
Wars, by Gu¨rcan Balik
Turkey’s Cold War: Foreign Policy and Western Alignment in the Modern
Republic, by S¸aban Halis C¸alıs¸
As our understanding of modern Turkish history continues to evolve,
andastheMiddleEastcontinuestochange,anewgenerationofscholars
are exploring questions of identities, class, politics, diplomacy and
religion. The British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) is internationally
renowned for its support of new independent academic research in the
region across various fields, including archaeology, ancient and modern
history,heritagemanagement,socialsciencesandcontemporaryissuesin
public policy, and political sciences. Contemporary Turkey is a
collectionofspeciallycommissionedbookspublishedinacollaboration
between I.B.Tauris and the BIAA, which focus on the identity, history
andpoliticsofrepublicanandmodernTurkey.Authorsandcontributors
combine academic rigour and scholarship with extensive first-hand
experience in the region.
TURKEY'S COLD
WAR
Foreign Policy and Western Alignment
in the Modern Republic
S¸ABAN HALI˙S C¸ALIS¸
Published in association with the British Institute
at Ankara (BIAA)
To My Wife, Habibe, With Love
Publishedin2017by
I.B.Tauris&Co.Ltd
London(cid:129)NewYork
www.ibtauris.com
Copyrightq2017S¸abanHalisC¸alıs¸
TherightofS¸abanHalisC¸alıs¸tobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenasserted
bytheauthorinaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsinareview,thisbook,oranypartthereof,
maynotbereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,
inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor
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inthisbook.Anyomissionswillberectifiedinfutureeditions.
Referencestowebsiteswerecorrectatthetimeofwriting.
ContemporaryTurkey2
ISBN:9781784531898
eISBN:9781786721075
ePDF:9781786731074
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CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1. A Prelude to the Global Confrontation 17
2. World War II and the Soviet Impact 27
3. Twilight Zone between Hot and Cold Wars 57
4. The Beginning of the Cold War and Integration 71
5. NATO and the Turkish Security Concept 87
6. In Defence of the Western Alignment 103
7. Two Decades of Cold War Turbulence 133
8. The Military and Cold War Policy 171
9. The O¨zal Era and Turkish Detente 183
10. Decision-Making and Cold War Warriors 195
Conclusions 223
Notes 231
Selected Bibliography 311
Index 337

PREFACE AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is a product of almost 25 years of research, writing and
teachingofinternationalrelationstheoryingeneralandmodernTurkish
foreignpolicyinparticular.Therefore,thisbookcontainssomeaspectsof
my academic work, and includes some parts of my PhD thesis, course
notesandarticles.Ofcourse,Ihavespentmuchtimeupdating,revising,
restructuring and even rewriting them completely in order to enable
them to be published in book format. Where I have referred to them,
they are referenced in the endnotes, and included in the bibliography.
I would like to say many thanks to my editors, supervisors, external
examiners, colleagues, research assistants, students, publishers and friends
whohavemadeunforgettablecontributionstothisbook.Iwishtoexpress
my thanks to Dr William Hale, Dr Richard Aldrich, Dr Simon Tormey,
Mr Chris Farrands and Prof. Dr Gu¨lnur Aybet for their supervision,
reading, critics, advice and guidance. They were all helpful, but to
Prof. Aybet, I am also very much indebted for her generosity with time,
interestandfriendshipastheeditorofthebook.Withouthersupportand
patience,thisbookwouldnothavebeenpublished.DrVanessaTinkerand
MehmetEgeErs¸endeservemanythanksfortheirunderstanding,criticism
andhelpinimprovingmanypartsofthebook.Forcopy-editing,Iwould
like to thank Nick James for his expertise and strong interventions that
madethispublicationmuchmorereadable. InthehotsummerdaysofJuly
whenalltheindexerswerebusy,EnginKılıc¸arslanhelpedmeinorganising
a wonderful index within a very short time, and deserves many thanks.
viii TURKEY'SCOLDWAR
Also, I wish to mention my commissioning editor Thomas Stottor from
I.B.Tauris, and to thank him for his patience, suggestions and vital
interventions to develop and expose some hidden points of the book, and
for chasing me with great insistence. I also thank Sara Magness as the
Production Editor for her advice, planning, and overseeing of the
proofreadingandpublicationofthebookwithgreatinterest.
Since the list of people and institutions is quite lengthy, I cannot
mentioneveryonewhodeservesmythanks,buttheTurkishMinistryof
Educationmustbementionedhereformyscholarshipandtheirfinancial
supportduring my study inEngland, and the BIAA for sponsorship of
thepublicationofthebook.Iwillneverforgetthat,withouttheirhelp,
most probably this book would have had to wait another 25 years.
Therefore, I am very grateful to all of them.
Last but by no means least, I would like to thank my wife, Habibe,
and my children Ays¸e Sena, O¨mer Faruk, Ahmet Cahit and Bilal Can,
who have been patient, tolerant and helpful throughout my studies.
Noneofthemareofcourseresponsibleforanymistakesinthisbook,
for which I take full responsibility.
INTRODUCTION
Kemalist Turkey benefited from the Cold War much more than any
other country. The Turks loved it because it provided them with many
opportunities,includinganinternationalsystemthatallowedTurkeyto
realiseitslong-termaspirationsforbecomingaWesterncountry.Mainly
because of the Cold War between Eastern and Western powers, which
brought countries on either side together in opposing camps, Turkey
joined NATO and the Council of Europe, and was associated with the
EuropeanUnion,despitesomeproblems.Inaddition,theTurksfounda
robustshelterundertheumbrellaoftheWestagainsttheRussians,who
had been the mightiest enemy at their borders for centuries. In fact,
nothingmuchhadchangedinthisrespectsincetheendofthesixteenth
century. But during the Cold War period Turkey felt comfortable in
foreignpolicy-makingaswell,sinceitbecamepartoftheWesternbloc,
and the Cold War system accordingly offered the country a simple
general policy framework to follow in international politics. Therefore,
when the events leading to the end of the Cold War started in the late
1980s,manypeopleinTurkeybeganworryingaboutthefutureoftheir
country in the context of the newly emerging international system.
TurkeywasindeedaffectedbytheColdWar,butitwasalsooneofthe
keycountriesthatplayedaroleinitsconstruction.Turkeydidnotcreate
theColdWaritself,butithelpedconstructandevenmaintainitbecause
itwasperceivedbytheTurksasaconditionthatwaswellsuitedtothe
country’smaterialandideationalinterests.Unfortunatelylittleattention
hasbeenpaidtothissideofthestoryeitherinColdWarhistoriography
or in studies of Turkish foreign policy. As a student of international