Department of History

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Browsing Department of History by Author "Aamir, Waleejah"

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    The role of Turkey in NATO's decision-making of nuclear use
    (Bilkent University, 2023) Aamir, Waleejah; Muhammetgulyyev, Muhammet; Jameel, Maryam; Abdelhalim, Sagda; Hasanova, Aylin; Naqvi, Syeda Sakaina
    The research is focused on the key events of North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) nuclear planning in the 1960s. The time period is chosen for two reasons. First, as the research topic suggests, because of the significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis – the climax of the Cold War tensions – in which Turkey, a NATO member, played the role of a mere uninformed bargaining chip. The research, therefore, inquires on the causes that put Turkey into this disadvantageous position and what were the consequences for the country, both long- and short-term. Second, more generally, NATO was going through turbulent considerations of transition into multilateralism regarding the decision to use nuclear arsenals of the alliance. Although the warheads were located on territories of all European allies, up to that point the United States (US) possessed a monopoly on the decision of initiating a strike. And despite the dissatisfaction with this unilateral hegemony being felt by all of the allies, the attempts of negotiating multilateralism were led by a select few: most notably the US, the United Kingdom (UK), and France. Once again, Turkey occupied a backseat in decision-making. The research aims to inquire on how this position was manifested, and possibly challenged, in Turkey’s participation in the one and only NATO attempt to implement a multilateral nuclear fleet: a mixed-manned demonstration aboard a US destroyer ship Biddle, later recommissioned as Claude V. Ricketts. Therefore, the research's geo-political scope spans NATO, focusing primarily on European members in closest cooperation – or at times hostility – with Turkey.