Dept.of International Relations - Ph.D. / Sc.D.

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Open Access
Negotiating development among unequals: Turkey and the European Economic Community, 1960–1980
(2023-06) Ozansoy, Arda
This dissertation analyzes the trajectory of the Association relationship between the European Economic Community (EEC) and Turkey by examining previously unexamined primary sources and relevant theoretical literature. After providing an overview of the literature on the Association, Europe’s trade policies, and development during the Cold War, it examines post-war international trade and the place of the EEC and Turkey in it. The dissertation draws primarily on EEC documents and suggests that the initial stages of Association were driven mostly by political factors, especially Turkey’s geopolitical importance in the Cold War and efforts to keep parallelism with Greece. In later stages, however, the concessions provided to Turkey started to erode as similar concessions were provided not only to Greece but also to a number of developing countries. Worsening economic conditions in Turkey in the 1970s led Turkey to request more concessions from the EEC. While the EEC internally acknowledged that Turkey’s requests were reasonable, it refrained from making meaningful concessions. This increasing divergence of positions led Turkey to suspend the Association not once but twice, first by a right-leaning and then by a left-leaning government. Disagreements over the economic foundations of the Association reveal that the Association had lost its attraction as support for Turkey’s development, an idea that was originally proclaimed as its core objective. From a theoretical perspective, the dissertation suggests the Association provides an effective case to study how intergovernmental economic negotiations have overlapped with development politics.
Open Access
Collective identity formation and the convergence of brics climate change policy
(Bilkent University, 2022-07) Kıprızlı, Göktuğ
This dissertation explores what explains the convergence among the BRICS, the acronym standing for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, on climate change, despite their divergent characteristics in terms of leading production sectors, demographic trends, population size, emissions profiles, and roles in the energy market. Based on the methodological principles of the theory testing branch of process tracing, there are three potential arguments driven by the existing theories to understand the phenomenon at hand. Hence, the dissertation utilizes soft-balancing of Neorealism, functional cooperation of Liberal Institutionalism, and collective identity formation of Constructivism. The main argument contends that the increasing interaction among the BRICS states, changes in the material world, and, as a result, the cohesion on the basis of collective identity have expanded the web of intra-group cooperation and collaboration within the club and generated shared ideas, discourse, and values on climate change-related issues over time. Adopting an interpretive discourse analysis, the dissertation also relies on primary textual materials consisting of the declarations of the BRICS platform, high-ranking state representatives’ speeches and statements, and other official documents. The dissertation unravels how their collective identity position the BRICS as emerging powers between developed and developing countries and urge their active involvement in tackling climate change in connection with their overlapping discursive, ideational, and policy frameworks. Thus, the dissertation contributes to the literature by unveiling the roots of the convergence among the BRICS, extending the timeframe for uncovering the shared BRICS positions, and marking the relevance of collective identity formation for BRICS cooperation.
Open Access
European Union and Turkey: mobility and in/security
(Bilkent University, 2021-10) Lüleci-Sula, Çağla
International Political Sociology (IPS) literature mainly focuses on the actions of the European Union (EU) in their analyses of externalization in the Mediterranean, examining how border security policies and practices of the EU actors constitute insecurities for multiple referents. The thesis shows that most IPS studies either overlook or underemphasize how non-EU actors also play a significant role in creating these insecurities. It argues that non-EU actors have agency in the constitution of the EU’s external border in/security policies and practices. The thesis also argues that, with its meta-theoretical and theoretical commitments, IPS is a suitable approach to locating multiple actors’ agency in the making of in/security. Through focusing on the case of Turkey, the dissertation concludes that border in/security cooperation between EU and non-EU states of the Mediterranean may be unbalanced in nature, but non-EU actors still have agency in the constitution of in/security.
Open Access
History in contemporary Russian cinema, patriotic dreams, complicated memories
(Bilkent University, 2021-09) Mutluer, Oğuzhan
The politics of memory is a highly significant part of contemporary Russian politics. Reinterpreting history is a critical duty of the recent Russian administration to overcome the identity crisis that has emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Historical films emerged as an appropriate option for the leadership to construct a new societal memory by conveying patriotic messages with the help of creating myths. A patriotic filmmaking project has been initiated for this purpose. This dissertation aims to discuss the content of some notable contemporary Russian historical films by using historical film analysis. Analyzing historical films has been a common topic in historiography. The methodology that is used in the dissertation will be evaluated in the first part. Latterly, the history of Russian cinema concerning the industrial dynamics and the basis of historical films will be discussed. In the following chapters, a selected filmography will be analyzed concerning their portrayal of Russian history. In conclusion, the notable setbacks and entanglements of the patriotic filmmaking project will be presented.
Open Access
Effects of economic sanctions on political beliefs of the targeted countries’ leaders
(Bilkent University, 2021-09) Shahin, Evgeniia
International organizations, individual states, and groups of states increasingly often use economic sanctions an alternative tool of foreign policy. While there are multiple studies analyzing effectiveness and economic, political, or humanitarian consequences of sanctions, much less attention is given to their psychological impacts. Presenting one of the rare systematic studies of psychological consequences of sanctions, this dissertation aims to analyze the effects of the economic sanctions on the political beliefs of the leaders of targeted states. Using operational code analysis, this research investigates whether economic sanctions lead to a change in operational codes of the leaders of Iran, Russia, and Syria representing the major cases of sanctions in the last two decades. The research demonstrates that while economic sanctions do not correspond to an immediate cognitive change, they are likely to trigger leaders’ more gradual learning. The results show that the leaders’ rhetoric after sanctions reflected multiple belief changes, some of which were similar across cases. For example, in five out of six analyzed instances, the targeted leaders started to perceive ‘other’ international actors less friendly than before. Presenting the first systematic analysis of a specific external shock on operational codes of leaders in different geographical, temporal, and political settings, this dissertation contributes to the political belief change literature. At the same time this study fills the gap in the research on psychological consequences of sanctions.
Open Access
The analysis of Turkey as a non-Western and emerging humanitarian actor
(Bilkent University, 2020-06) Coşkun Türkmen, Efser Rana
This dissertation explores Turkey as a non-Western and emerging humanitarian actor with respect to its humanitarian policies, goals, actors, and practices. In the literature of International Relations (IR), although there are various scholarly works that analyse Turkey’s humanitarianism, they have not been competent enough to explain how and in what terms Turkey is a different humanitarian actor compared to other humanitarian donors. This dissertation includes a comprehensive research on actors, practices and strategic goals of emerging donors to assess Turkey’s operationalisation of its humanitarianism. While the majority of existing scholarly contributions on today’s ‘emerging donors’ investigate China, Brazil and India, this research focuses on Turkey that has engaged with the international development field through using insights from IR, development studies particularly humanitarianism and development aid, and Turkish foreign policy. Existing scholarly works remain limited to explore Turkey’s humanitarianism in detail from a different angle to develop new conceptual understandings. The dissertation analyses Somalia as the single case study to understand Turkey’s growing activism in the country. To this end, this dissertation asks three major research questions: 1) How does Turkey operationalise its humanitarianism and what does it seek to achieve? 2) How has Turkey become an important humanitarian actor in the world despite its middle-income country status? 3) Why and in what terms does Turkey emerge as a significant actor amongst emerging donors in humanitarianism? In doing so, this dissertation unravels operationalisation of Turkey’s humanitarianism with regard to activities, humanitarian emotions, civilizational geopolitics, Turkey’s geopolitical aid, and its liminal identity.
Open Access
Foreign policy operational codes of European populist radical right leaders
(Bilkent University, 2020-01) Ceydilek, Erdem
Recently, both in scholarly and policy circles, the populist radical right has been a popular and contested topic in Europe. Despite the increasing influence and visibility of European populist radical right (EPRR) parties and leaders, their foreign policy beliefs have not been studied thoroughly by scholars of International Relations (IR) and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), with a few descriptive exceptions. This study aims at filling this gap by linking the FPA and populist radical right literatures with an empirically and theoretically robust analysis. With an operational code analysis of the foreign policy beliefs of nine prominent EPRR leaders, this dissertation first seeks similarities or differences between EPRR leaders and also compare them to the average world leader, and then discuss the underlying reasons for the presence or lack of these similarities and differences. On the one hand, the results show that, in terms of beliefs about the political universe, the EPRR leaders can be grouped into two categories: Where nativism dominates over populism, the EPRR leaders’ beliefs about the political universe are more conflictual and vice versa. On the other hand, in terms of beliefs about foreign policy instruments, the general picture shows that the EPRR leaders are not and will not necessarily be conflictual. This study presents significant findings about the foreign policy beliefs of EPRR leaders and may also provide a basis for future research in this under-studied field.
Open Access
Conceptions of modernity in security studies: the study of security in the Global South
(Bilkent University, 2019-07) Dikmen Alsancak, Neslihan
Security Studies has portrayed states in the Global South as a threat to international security and overlooked insecurities experienced by people and social groups in the Global South. In security studies, security in the Global South has been explained in terms of incompleteness of states in the Global South. The dissertation questions how it is possible that security studies has accounted for security in the Global South in terms of a lack. The argument of dissertation is that the study of security in the Global South is related to the conception of modernity shaping security studies, which locates the Global South outside of world politics. This dissertation builds its argument in four steps. First, it identifies three dimensions of modernity, namely, time, ontology and sociality of world politics. These dimensions help to unpack conceptions of modernity in security studies, which vary across these three dimensions. Second, the dissertation unpacks conception of modernity shaping realist approaches to security and Third World security scholars’ analyses in order to examine their respective understandings of the relationship between the Global North and the Global South in security relations. Third, it asks how those, who are critical of these approaches, namely, critical and postcolonial approaches to security have understood the relationship. Fourth, the dissertation shows its argument by illustrating from studies on nuclear non-proliferation in the Global South.
Open Access
Coherence and effectiveness of EU Foreign Policy: the cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo
(Bilkent University, 2018-11) Mutluer, Deniz
This thesis aims to analyse the coherence and effectiveness of the European Union (EU) foreign policy by focusing on two crucial cases that shaped the emergence of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the Union: Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Has the EU foreign policy been coherent and effective in Bosnia and Kosovo? The concept of “coherence” has high explanatory power to analyse the relationship between the EU institutions, the EU member states, and the EU foreign policy instruments. Accordingly, this research examines the coherence of EU foreign policy instruments used in Bosnia and Kosovo by developing a new analytical concept: “perceived coherence” which focuses on the degree of receptivity amongst local agents regarding the coherence of EU policy instruments applied in their country, namely the EU accession process, the CSDP missions and mediation. After analysing the coherence of the EU foreign policy in Bosnia and Kosovo, this study focuses on the factors that come into play between coherence and effectiveness.
Open Access
The conceptions of “the international” in Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2018-03) Küçük, Mine Nur
In the last several decades, the discipline of International Relations (IR) has been problematized because of its limitations in engaging with non-core actors. A burgeoning literature in IR has underscored that the prevalent approaches in the discipline have particular understandings of world politics which are based on the experiences of core actors, and ideas and experiences of non-core actors are overlooked in these understandings. This literature has asked what IR would look like if ideas and experiences of non-core actors are also considered. This dissertation’s objective is to contribute to this literature by studying the conceptions of “the international” as found in one of the non-core contexts, namely Turkey. The dissertation develops and offers a novel analytical framework for studying the conceptions of “the international” in any given context. This framework is employed firstly to examine the understandings as found in IR scholarship so as to see what is available in the literature. Then, the framework is employed for analyzing the conceptions of “the international” in Turkey as one example to non-core actors of world politics. The dissertation discusses what IR scholarship captures and overlooks when the conceptions of “the international” in non-core contexts are taken into account.
Open Access
Genesis and genealogy of the concept of power: the 1998 October crisis between Turkey and Syria
(Bilkent University, 2018-02) Sarı, Buğra
Although power is one of the central concepts of International Relations, it is obvious that there is lack of consensus on what the concept means. As a result, there are many power conceptualizations today circulating in the discipline. Given the centrality of the concept, diversity within power conceptualizations creates negative implications for International Relations, curbing scholarly communication among power analysts and reducing the analytical strength of the discipline. Having concerns about the implications of diversity within power conceptualizations, the dissertation conducts a conceptual analysis on the concept of power in International Relations in order to highlight fundamental differences between the existing power conceptualizations by revealing the historical and theoretical contexts in which they are embedded. Then, the diverse power conceptualizations in the discipline are applied on a case study that is the 1998 October Crisis in order to compare and contrast their explanatory potentials and different focuses of aspects. Based on these, the dissertation aims to diminish the level of ambiguity on the concept of power, and to contribute the scholarly communication among power analysts in the discipline. To this end, the dissertation mainly asks three major questions: (1) why are there many power conceptualizations in International Relations? Or, how has power come to be conceptualized in many ways? (2) how has a specific power conceptualization come to mean as it is known to mean in a particular way? (3) what are the main features and focuses of aspects of the existing power conceptualizations?
Open Access
Exogenous shocks and governing energy security
(Bilkent University, 2017-07) Diriöz, Ali Oğuz
The research examines how governments maintain energy security when faced with exogenous shocks. The main focus of inquiry examines the relative influence of markets vs. geopolitics in the area of energy security using the comparative case studies of Turkey, France, and Netherlands, which are OECD economies and NATO members, but feature diverse settings and contexts as well as different energy mixes, geographies, and demographics. The research then inquires how these countries’ respective governments responded to four exogenous shocks: a) 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensuing oil price hike; b) Russia-Ukraine natural gas crisis of 2005/6; c) 2008 world economic crisis and ensuing extreme oil price fluctuations; d) 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown. It is argued that governments operate within two distinct decision time horizons to maintain energy security. The concept of “Term Structure Approach to Energy Security” is introduced, which refers to government’s capacity to respond to exogenous shocks within different time horizons. In the short term, governments cannot respond to vulnerabilities with optimum efficacy, so they seek palliative solutions. In the long term, governments develop a greater capacity to the area of energy security, to minimize vulnerabilities. Thus, governments implement different strategies associated with different term structures in responding to exogenous shocks to their energy security. Geopolitics and external adjustment (EGA) observed tend to be of long term, and set the structure within which markets operate. Therefore, system level influences are more observable in maintaining energy security.
Open Access
Constructing security in colombia : the case of FARC
(Bilkent University, 2017-06) Baysal, Başar
This study introduces a new framework for critical security studies to examine the production of security issues, particularly in hybrid democracies. Like the other critical security approaches, this new framework has a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology. On the other hand, this new framework addresses the critics of the already existing approaches. As novel features, the new framework, regards the process of (in)securitization as a whole process and examines it in three phases: definition, construction, and (in)securitization-in-action; it takes both bottom-up and top-down characteristics of the process of (in)securitization into consideration and examines both macro-level decision-making processes and discursive efforts and micro-level security practices; it takes rival voices into consideration and provides a dual framework for analysis which examines nonviolent opposition and counter-(in)securitizations; it integrates new units like the opposition and sufferers; it examines the context of the process of (in)securitization by particularly focusing on the historical background and the level of democracy; it divides the security professionals into three levels: strategic, operational and tactical; it examines the insecuritizing consequences of (in)securitization as well as its process; finally, and most importantly, it eliminates the state-centric approach and it can problematize non-state actors too. In addition to these theoretical contributions, the dissertation applies this new framework to the case of dual (in)securitization of FARC and the Colombia state. By that way, it both present the functioning of the framework and examines one of the longest and deadliest internal conflicts of the last century through the lenses of (in)securitization framework.
Open Access
Regional directions of national role conceptions : Turkey's foreign policy in its neighborhood
(Bilkent University, 2017-05) Sula, İsmail Erkam
This study analyzes Turkey's foreign policy (TFP) through utilizing two foreign policy analysis (FPA) tools: Role Theory and Event Data. Role theory claims that foreign policy conduct is an attempt to perform the role conceptions that decision-makers formulate. The literature mainly focuses on the sources of role conceptions. However, most of the existing studies do not comprehensively incorporate foreign policy practices in their analyses. This study argues that such a stance hinders the explanatory power of role theory and creates a need to develop a systematic focus on states‟ foreign policy practices. Therefore, it utilizes event data analysis, which reviews international news reports to collect data on the actual foreign policy practices of states. Combining event data and role theory, this study observes and measures the parallelism between TFP words and deeds. It collects data by utilizing two methods: hand-coded content analysis and computer-assisted event data analysis. By doing so, it builds the Turkey‟s Foreign Policy Roles and Events Dataset (TFPRED) which analyzes TFP in five regions: Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Euro-Atlantic. This dataset makes it possible to observe the relationship between decision-makers‟ vision and the country‟s foreign policy practices. It presents proofs on the validity of its two main claims: 1) There are region-specific differences in Turkey‟s national role conceptions towards its neighborhood and 2) All role conceptions (words) do not turn into practice (deeds) in foreign policy.
Open Access
Transnational terrorist franchising in sub-saharan Africa : the effects of religion and natural resources
(Bilkent University, 2016-08) Buğday, Anastassia
In the past decade or so, several major franchises took place between a transnational terrorist organization – such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State – and domestic terrorist organizations. By adopting Al Qaeda’s brand name, Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Fighting was not only able to survive through counterterrorism measures enforced by the Algerian government, but also to reshape itself into a transnational terrorist group extending its influence to other countries. This dissertation argues that terrorist organizations are like business firms. Whatever their proclaimed goal is, their ultimate aim is survival. Terrorist organizations apply diverse strategies, in order to ‘stay in business,’ and franchise being one of them. By applying Zelinsky and Shubik’s (2009) typological framework, this work analyzes the motivations of terrorist organizations, both domestic and transnational, for involvement in the franchise strategy. This framework characterizes franchise as centralized in terms of operations, while being decentralized in terms of resources. This dissertation posits that religion and natural resources play an essential role in this framework: religious motivations are important for the centralization of operations, while the presence of natural resources guarantees that a new affiliate will be able to finance its operations even in cases when the parent organization is unable or unwilling to provide financial support. To explore the relationship between organizational survival strategy, religion and natural resources this work first compiles a dataset on all Sub-Saharan African countries and then conducts both a quantitative descriptive analysis, as well as a qualitative analysis of the case of Nigeria.
Open Access
The analysis of Turkey's approach to peace operations
(Bilkent University, 2007) Güngör, Uğur
This dissertation aims at analyzing the motivations that lie at the roots of Turkey’s involvement in peace operations, mostly organized under the leadership of the United Nations in the post-Cold War era. The main contention is that participation in such operations has been an identity-constructing activity in the sense that Turkey has tried to reinforce its eroding western identity in the 1990s through this particular way. This dissertation also discusses alternative motivations behind Turkey’s involvement in peace operations, such as security-related considerations in a neo-realist vein and domestic influence of ethnic and religion pressure groups, but argues that these accounts fail short of offering convincing explanations. Methodologically, the research for this dissertation will be thematic, not theoretical. The purpose of this study is not to make value judgments concerning Turkey’s participation in peace operations, but instead to describe, understand, and explain its role. Based on Turkey’s experiences in peace operations, this dissertation reaches the following conclusions. First, Turkey’s western image has improved. Second, Turkey could transform its security identity and interests in line with the changing security conceptualizations in the West. Third, the modernization process of Turkish armed forces has become much easier following Turkey’s presence in such operations. Fourth, the prospects of Turkey’s membership in the EU have increased following Turkey’s cooperation with EU members in various peace operations in different regions of the world. Fifth, participation in peace operations has contributed to the improvement of Turkey’s relations with the United States which have gradually deteriorated in the postCold War era.
Open Access
Ahıska Turks and Koreans in post-Soviet Kazakstan and Uzbekistan : the making of diaspora identity and culture
(Bilkent University, 2006) Oh, Chong Jin
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all of the newly independent governments in Central Asia aimed at nationalizing or indigenizing the territories under their control and rectifying what many saw as decades of dominance by foreign actors. These states made great efforts to undertake various nation-building projects. For individuals in many nationalizing states in Central Asia, knowledge of the titular language became increasingly important in order to obtain, maintain and advance their career and position in the society. In other words, members of the titular nations had somewhere to go and settle after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the non-titular groups, which included group such as the Jews, the Volga Germans, the Koreans, the Crimean Tatars, Ahıska Turks, had nowhere to go. These diasporas found themselves in the middle of nowhere. These ethnic minorities or diasporas are, perhaps, the main losers in the nation-building process in post-Soviet Central Asia due to their powerlessness and vulnerability. As peoples deported by the Soviet regime, these groups were forced to migrate against their will. By using Korean and Ahıska Turkish diasporas in Uzbekistan and Kazakstan as cases, this study examines, to some extent, how diasporas are influenced by nationalizing states in Central Asia. It attempts to inquire into the factors which influence the existence, nature and intensity of ethno-nationalism in the diasporas’ context. Therefore, it analyzes both the existence and transmission of ethno-nationalism between the diasporas’ settings and homelands and specifically will deal with the transmission of ethno-nationalist sentiments across diasporas’ generations. Above all, the task of this inquiry is to examine the sources of diversity within diaspora relations and to move toward an analysis of the patterns of interaction among trans-border ethnic groups, their traditional ethnic homelands, and the states in which they reside. The comparative content of this investigation will show considerable variations in these practices in different settings and groupings.
Open Access
Weak states and security
(Bilkent University, 2006) Rakipi, Albert
Although the weak 1 failing states have often been deseribed as the single most important problem for the international order s ince the en d of Cold W ar (F .Fukuyaına 2004:92) several dimensions of this phenomenon still remain unexplored. While this phenomenon has been present in the international politics even earlier, only the post Cold W ar period accentuated its relationship with security issues. Following the Cold W ar' s "peaceful" period and the bloody 1990s, the Balkan region today represents a mixture of weak states and international protectorates, positioned equally far from failure as from evcntual success. This study proposcs that there is a strong correlation between the wcak state and security issues. By fuıther investigating this kind of relationship it will analyze ho w state strength impacts security in the post Cold war world. The study will focus on domestic threats to security, concentrating on the Balkans, and in particular, analyzing the range of security problems for Albania and Macedonia. It therefore represents a genuine debate on the security dilemma at the domestic !eve! in the post Cold war environment based on the argument that internal security issues. have gained more importance relative to external threats with the demise of the öipolar international system.
Embargo
Diplomacy in the information age: the use of information technologies in verification
(Bilkent University, 2006) Fidan, Hakan
One of the major arguments of this dissertation is that the information revolution has had significant impact on verification of existing international agreements. To support this argument, the relation between information revolution and international relations is tackled by examining systemic and unit level effects as well as impacts of information revolution on security, conflict management and international cooperation, and then the theory and practice of verification is discussed in detail with emphasis on regime theories and issues challenging verification. Finally, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) are selected as two case studies for the purpose of analyzing the impacts of information revolution. At the conclusion, based on the findings from the operations of the IAEA and the CTBTO, it is suggested that verification has become even more useful in international relations since it became more effective in detecting cheating thanks to the new information technologies.
Open Access
The making of Turkey's western alliance : 1944-1952
(Bilkent University, 2001) Çetiner, Yusuf Turan
This study analyses the formulation of Turkish foreign policy in the period 1944 to 1952 and considers the making of Turkey’s Western Alliance in this context. The thesis aims at indicating that Turkey’s resolute quest for a Western alliance in the aftermath of WW II was a natural end-result of the experiences inherited from wartime diplomacy. While Turkey’s sensitivity against the bloc strategy of world powers was continuing, it was evaluated by the makers of Turkish foreign policy that aggression could emerge from the totalitarian regimes which combined their forces or by one of them. Previously, the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 had demonstrated that the danger could emerge as a collective movement. Shortly afterwards, it was understood that the split in this bloc had not removed the threat either. In this framework of analysis, the thesis discusses that forced by the conditions of an unpredictable international environment, Turkey constantly sought the ways to enhance its security; an effort which eventually paved the way to the formation of an alliance with the West. In order to deepen the discussion in this context, the thesis makes a comparative study of Turkish foreign policy of the period in concern as well. Thus, attitudes of consecutive governments as mainly divided between those run under the Presidency of İsmet İnönü and the Democrat Party era after May 14, 1950 elections towards the course of international events are explored. On this premise, a contention is advanced that the making of Turkey’s Western Alliance and its adherence to NATO was the end-product of a variety of incidents and policies which operated towards this effect. Turkey’s participation in the plannings for a Middle Eastern Defence Organization (MEDO) and its decision to assign a combat force of a brigade size in the UN Command in Korea are evaluated as the main events of this process. In 1946, facing the Soviet assertiveness in global affairs, it was increasingly felt by the makers of Turkish foreign policy that maintaining an alliance with Britain and the USA was of utmost priority. At this juncture, Britain was pursuing a regular withdrawal policy from its global status which hampered London to develop a strategic partnership with Ankara. In its turn, Washington was not in favour of extending its commitments and had the opinion that as far as the coordination of security plannings were concerned Turkey was in Britain’s area of responsibility. It was the Truman Doctrine that marked a complete change in the US perception of Turkey and Greece. The thesis aims to shed light on a set of matters, the futile efforts around the MEDO and the concurrent hot conflict over Korea being the most significant ones. The period subsequent to the elections of May 1950 after which the Democrat Party administration decided to push Turkey to its limits - through hasty attempts at times - where the reflexes of benovelent neutrality towards the Allied side inherited from WW II left its place to an active search for security and partnership with the West is examined as the last phase in this process. In this framework, the thesis also aims to elaborate that the continuation of politics by war, and the continuation of war by politics continued throughout 1950 and 1952 which finally paved the way to the first enlargement of Western Alliance within the framework of NATO by the inclusion of Turkey and Greece.