Browsing by Subject "Cold War"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 21

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ABD’ye iltica diye yola çıktı, kendini Trabzon’da buldu: Aleksandr Mihayloviç Zuyev
(Bilkent University, 2021) Sezer, Sıla; Aloğlu, İrem Naz; Dellal, Zeynep Doğa; Koçak, İlayda; Kocaman, Arda
12 Mart 1947 ile 26 Aralık 1991 tarihleri arasındaki Soğuk Savaş Döneminde, kaçırdığı MiG-29 savaş uçağıyla Trabzon’a acil iniş yapan Sovyet pilotu Aleksandr Mihayloviç Zuyev’in bu hareketi; birçok yönden araştırılmaya değer görüldü. Öncelikle; siyasi yönden, 1980’lerin ikinci yarısında Türkiye ve Sovyetler Birliği arasında bir yakınlaşma olmasına karşın, Zuyev vakasının, Türkiye’nin kendini Batı’ya entegre etmesi ve coğrafi konumu sebebiyle uluslararası anlaşmazlıkların ortaya çıkmasına zemin hazırlamış olması muhtemeldir. Hukuki kapsamda ise, ABD’nin, Zuyev’in iltica talebini kabul etmesiyle beraber sorguya çağrılması ele alındı. Genel olarak, uçağın kaçırılma süreci ve buna benzer uçak kaçırma vakaları da tarihsel boyutu oluşturdu.
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Befriending the west: a wise decision or a rushed move (1939-1950)?
(Bilkent University, 2023) Ahmed, Ghulam; Hussain, Mohammad; Jamal, Muhammad Ahmar; Usman, Muhammad Shayan; Durrani, Omar Ahmad Khan
This paper will examine how Turkish relations with the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), Germany, and the West changed from the start of World War II up to the early Cold War years (1939-1950s). Following Ataturk’s death in 1938, Turkey tried to keep cordial relations with all the significant powers of the time. However, this proved to be quite difficult, and towards the beginning of the cold war, Turkey had to pick sides. This paper will examine the reasons behind Turkey's decision to align with the West and join World War II in February 1945. It aims to provide insight into the underlying factors that influenced this decision. Some important events that caused Turkey to join with the West include the Straits Issue, The Marshall Plan, and the Truman Doctrine. Moreover, this paper will also analyze the pros and cons of the decisions taken at the time, both on a short and long-term scale.
Open Access
The birth of anti-Soviet image in the Turkish press following the Second World War and its reflections after the death of Stalin (1953-1964)
(2008) Çağdaş, Nazım Arda
This study aims to analyze the construction of the anti-Soviet sentiment in the Turkish press at the beginning of the Cold War, and its evolution during the period from the death of Stalin in 1953 until the ouster of Khrushchev in 1964. After an assessment of the antagonism towards Russia in the Turkish public before 1945, the immense rise of anti-Sovietism in the Turkish press during the Straits of the Crisis between the Soviet Union and Turkey will be analyzed. The long term influence of anti-Soviet stance during the crisis, which was also reflected to the quarrel between Tan and Tanin newspapers in 1945, over the period 1953–1964 will be examined. Three main issues will be analyzed: The iv influence of the Turkish governments over the press in terms of the construction of a negative Soviet image will be questioned. The anti-Soviet stance among the Turkish journalists apart from the state influence will be assessed. The reasons for the relaxation of anti-Sovietism up to 1960s will be analyzed. In this context, the general tendency of the Turkish press will be examined with regard to the examples from the anti-Soviet content from eight prominent newspapers of that period. Primarily Ulus, as the official press organ of the Republican People’s Party; and Zafer, as the semi-official press organ of the Democratic Party; and six independent newspapers, Akşam, Cumhuriyet, Dünya, Hürriyet, Milliyet, and Vatan will be surveyed in terms of their anti-Soviet content. The prominent journalists in these newspapers will be also emphasized to observe the individual anti-Soviet perspectives in the press. The changing attitudes in the press will be assessed with regard to the developments in the Cold War.
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Bringing them together : Turkish-American relations and Turkish democracy, 1945-1950
(2005) Kayaoğlu, Barın
At certain times, the U.S. has been a complementary player in helping different countries to democratize without interfering in the affairs of the host country. During the Cold War, this policy owed to Washington’s anti-Communist disposition. Most of the time, anti-Communism, freedom, and democracy were used interchangeably. This thesis talks about such a case where the U.S. kept a close eye on the transition to democracy, namely Turkey from 1945 until 1950. Primary U.S. policy towards Turkey at the onset of the Cold War was to keep the Soviet Union out. Meanwhile, Turkish leaders’ democratic credentials, particularly those of Atatürk and İnönü, were the triggering factors for democratization. Treating the two traditionally separate phenomena, however, needs to be reconsidered. The thesis will look at the historical record to analyze how Turkish democratization was a factor in the relations between the U.S. and Turkey at the beginning of the Cold War. Contrary to expectations, the U.S. did not exert pressure on Turkey to democratize as Turkey moved steadily on that path. Also interestingly, Turkish statesmen and intellectuals saw democracy and the U.S. partnership as the manifestation of their modernization and Westernization. This point offers itself as another building block for the thesis.
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Capitalizing on the cold war: Turkey, Greece and the Cyprus problem, 1963-1974
(2018-07) Bayraktar, Orhun
The Cold War brought about not only a superpower rivalry in a bipolar world but also an environment from which relatively small and weak states could benefit. Taking into account the very existence and significance of the superpowers in the Cold War atmosphere, this thesis examines the Cyprus policies of Turkey and Greece between the years 1963-1974. I have sought to answer to what degree these two states have struggled to exploit the superpowers, namely the US and the USSR, in their own interests, and how successful they have been. In the light of the findings obtained, it has been seen that both Turkey and Greece did their best to win the superpowers over during all of the major crises (1964, 1967, and 1974), and accordingly, managed from time to time to capitalize on the cold war, in particular détente. That is to say, in a period when the superpowers went into the effort of de-escalating tension, especially between themselves, the two NATO allies, Turkey and Greece, began to rub shoulders with the USSR when necessary, and the Soviets remained an unignorable option for these two countries as long as the US did not meet their expectations. Crucial primarily due to its geographical location, Cyprus attracted the attention of the US and USSR as well, and the superpowers did not hesitate to side with any of the parties in accordance with their regional interests.
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Cold War
(SAGE Publications, Inc., 2004) Winter, Thomas; Carroll, Bret E.
The Cold War, which began after World War II and lasted through the 1980s, was a geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union grounded in an ideological rivalry between capitalism and communism. The Cold War raised concerns about both external and internal threats to American strength, social stability, and security, and particularly to material abundance, middle-class lifestyles, and cultural norms about masculinity. Motivated by fears of emasculation, effeminization, and homosexuality, Americans anxiously defined their nation and their way of life in terms culturally associated with masculinity, including power, diplomatic and military assertiveness, economic success, sexual and physical prowess, moral righteousness, and patriotism.
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Containing Tito : US and Soviet policies towards Yugoslavia and the Balkans
(2005) İşyar, Levent
This thesis examines the early Cold War in the Balkans by bringing historical and regional factors into play. In particular, it focuses on the plans for a Balkan federation and the Balkan Pact. The major actor in these cooperation attempts was Yugoslavia, and it was a privileged state in its relations with the superpowers. By putting Yugoslavia into the centre of analysis, this thesis reconsiders this period and the influence of these two regional alliances upon the regional and Cold War relations. Balkan federation plans were the extension of historical tendencies of the contributing parties. Balkan Pact was completely a Cold War tool but its demise was triggered by non-Cold War reasons rooted in the regional relations. Early Cold War in the Balkans should be studied by treating the role of historical and regional factors as equal with the superpower policies.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower’ın başkanlık döneminde (1953-1961) Türkiye-ABD ilişkileri
(Bilkent University, 2021) Oral, Bilginer; Hanioğlu, Atilla Eren; Yüzlü, Bahadır; Özbay, Umut Yaşar; Demirok, Tuna
II. Dünya Savaşı sonunda ABD ve SSCB’nin öne çıkmasıyla “iki kutuplu” güçler dengesi oluştu. Türkiye, kuzeydeki Rus tehlikesine karşı Batı Bloku’nda yer almaya karar verdi. Bunun karşılığında ABD, Truman Doktrini ve Marshall Planı ile Türkiye’yi ekonomik ve askerî olarak destekledi. Demokrat Parti iktidarı boyunca Türkiye-ABD ilişkileri daha da ilerledi. Öyle ki Türkiye, Amerika’nın başı çektiği NATO’ya üye oldu. Türk ekonomisi ise yoğun ABD destekleri sonucu yüksek büyüme rakamları yakaladı. Aralık 1959’da Eisenhower’ın Türkiye’yi ziyaret etmesi Türk-Amerikan ilişkileri bağlamında önemlidir. İktidarının son yıllarında DP’nin kurduğu baskı rejiminden dolayı ülkenin eski demokratik ve özgür ortamdan uzaklaştığını düşünen ordu, 27 Mayıs 1960’ta darbe ile kontrolü ele aldı.
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The flagship institution of Cold War Turcology, Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü, 1961-1980
(Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 2017) Aytürk, İ.
The study of the cultural Cold War, the untold story of how the USA and the USSR employed and often exploited the academia and the arts for war purposes, is now a particularly fruitful line of inquiry, but it has scarcely reached the field of Turkish studies. This article focuses on the Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü (TKAE), founded in Ankara in 1961. Ostensibly, the TKAE was an academic institute, doing research on the Turkic world; however, its political objectives, as I attempt to show, went far beyond the scholarly confines of academia. I will first describe the Cold War environment in which the TKAE was born by putting this institution into its international and domestic contexts in two separate sections. Proving the convergence of American interests and the interests of right-wing Turkish elites is going to be my goal here. Next, I will provide information about the foundation of the TKAE, its institutional structure, membership, aims and activities. Finally, I will conclude by discussing what the TKAE episode teaches us in understanding Cold War Turkey.
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Labor in the US foreign policy during early cold war : the Marshall Plan and American-Turkish labor relations, 1945-1955
(2006) Öner, Sera
American foreign policy, parallel to the rise of the working class as of the 1860s, has included a new policy actor: labor. Likewise, in the aftermath of World War II and emergence of bipolar world, the United States of America actively made use of labor unions and rendered it an intrinsic Cold War value. This thesis describes America’s use of labor tool in its struggle against communism after providing a general account of labor movement and its role in American foreign policy making, through descriptive history method. Major objective of the United States was to redress Europe through military and economic aid vis-à-vis the specter of communism, to secure the periphery and contain the U.S.S.R. The road map of this new American global strategy became a monolithic one with the Marshall Plan and indoctrinated with the Truman Doctrine, which also included the labor element. The thesis will analyze the significant role that labor in the U.S. foreign policy, shaped with American exceptionalism; its development and support for the anti-communism policies. The reason why this thesis has been written is that there is no written source elaborating Turkish-American industrial relations from the perspective of Cold War. With this end, by making use of comparative history method, Turkish industrial relations case is studied to illustrate the know-how assistance and ideology trade-off of America to Turkish labor unions, which highlights the importance ascribed by the U.S.A. to labor as a foreign policy component.
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"Liberated neighborhoods": reconstructing leftist activism in the urban periphery
(De Gruyter, 2020) Erman, Tahire; Pekesen, Berna
This article addresses the phenomenon of what is known as ‘liberated territory’1 in recent Turkish history (the second half of the 1970s), during which leftist activists2 entered the urban periphery for ideological purposes. Using quotations from the interviews with former leftist activists and gecekondu3 residents4 in Ankara and İzmir,5 I aim to reconstruct the past from the memories6 of my respondents, revealing the experience of leftist presence in the gecekondu as it is remembered. I focus on the experiences in gecekondu neighborhoods as leftist activists experimented, on the one hand, with transforming the urban periphery to provide housing for the poor, and, on the other hand, with the ideological training and mobilization of their inhabitants, which was contested by state authorities and towards the end by the ultranationalists. Thus, it involved violence, leftist militants fighting with the oppositional ultranationalist groups as well as with the state forces when the latter attempted to intervene in the neighborhood and to demolish the houses, with whom negotiations could be carried out otherwise. I argue, first, that leftist groups’ experimenting with the gecekondu was a decentralized endeavor led by spontaneous decisions rather than a centrally planned one, showing variations in different contexts. Secondly, it was not an inclusive project despite the original aim, mainly Alevis7 embracing and religious Sunnis opposing it. Thirdly, it was a topdown ideological project of “enlightening” the urban poor, yet in the practice of constructing houses and infrastructure, and providing services and help to gecekondu dwellers, it was a participatory process. And fourthly, although leftist groups moved into the urban periphery to bring class consciousness, they, nonetheless, became new actors in transforming peripheral land, and as such they acted against the commodification of land, prioritizing the use value against the exchange value. Accordingly, moving beyond the simplistic view of the status quo that leftist presence in gecekondu areas disrupted the social order, I show the transformative role of the left in the urban periphery, intervening in the unequal power dynamics of urban informality, which instigated violence.
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Missiles and bureaucrats: The Reagan administration and the making of two-pronged security diplomacy
(2023-08) Cebeci, Berk
The crucial turn in conducting foreign policy with the election of Ronald Reagan has been a determinant factor in the late Cold War period. This thesis centers on the role of the foreign policymaking process and its agencies from SALT II of 1979 to the Reykjavik Summit of 1986 and examines the American diplomatic affairs during the Reagan administration with the Soviets and the allies in the Atlantic world by emphasizing nuclear security and arms race as a nexus within these triangular affairs of US, Western Europe and the Soviet Union. The fundamental argument this thesis illustrates is that policymakers of the Reagan administration germinated and followed a twofold nuclear policy agenda, mainly derived from the incompetence of the predecessor administrations and the realities of foreign affairs with Western Europe and the Soviet Union in the 1980s within the context of potential nuclear catastrophe, and asserts how this security strategy shaped American diplomacy from the missile crisis of 1977, which augmented the perils of nuclear catastrophe, to the negotiations in late 1985 and 1986 that declined tensions and ultimately underpinned the desire for peace at the end of the decade.
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Nationalism and Islam in Cold War Turkey, 1944-69
(Taylor & Francis, 2014) Ayturk, I.
Our current knowledge on the history of Turkish nationalism during the Cold War is a blend of facts and myths. One of those myths is the argument that the Turks developed a special relationship with Islam following their massive conversion in the eleventh century to the extent that religion has become the most important ingredient in Turkish national identity over time, even more pronounced than ethnic attributes. Secular visions of Turkish nationalism, on the other hand, which emphasize ethnic characteristics, are generally regarded as curious but unimportant exceptions. This article challenges that narrative and maintains that the alleged unimportance of secular nationalism is an invention of the late 1960s. It provides evidence that there was no consensus among Turkish nationalists on the question of Islam; on the contrary, the role of Islam in the making of Turkish identity was the most hotly debated topic among rival nationalist circles. It was not until the turning point in 1969 that a host of factors such as demographic change, anti-Kemalist and anti-RPP sentiments, and electoral behaviour in Cold War Turkey convinced Turkish nationalists to adopt a more Islamic-leaning discourse to be more successful at the ballot box.
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The origins of the Cold War in the Middle East : the Turkish case
(2006) Çakal, Hüseyin
This thesis aims to analyze the “contribution” of Turkey to the origins of the Cold War in the Middle East. The main argument of this thesis, in this context, is that the immediate post war environment in the middle east did not resemble something different from the years-old strategic environment in the middle east, main characteristic of which is continuous great power rivalry for hegemony over the region. At this juncture Turkey’s contribution happened to be a catalyst in the deterioration of the pragmatist wartime partnership between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies. Turkish policy makers stressed the power and inevitability of Russian attack in the event of lack of British and American opposition. During the period concerned, in the Middle East, the danger to the security of the free world did arise not so much from the threat of direct Soviet military aggression. It mainly aroused from continuation of the unfavorable historical trends. Therefore, imperial rivalries and dynastic ambitions suffice to explain most part of the postwar situation in the Middle East and thereby gave enough clue for the origins of the Cold War in that part of the world.
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Patriotism
(SAGE Publications, Inc., 2004) Winter, Thomas; Carroll, Bret E.
Patriotism and definitions of manliness have a shared history in the United States. While the pressure to be “patriotic” has been especially strong in times of national crisis or war, patriotism in general has been perceived as a significant component of manliness. Although women have been called upon to be patriotic as well, women's patriotism has been linked to the private realms of home, family, and motherhood, whereas men's has been connected to public politics and the military.
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The policy of Eisenhower administration towards Turkey , 1953-1961
(2004) Tokatlı, Fatih
This thesis analyzes the objectives, implementation and outcomes as well as making of the policy of Eisenhower Administration toward Turkey between 1953 and 1961. Specific emphasis was placed on newly declassified U.S. primary sources. During the research phase. The policy of Eisenhower Administration toward Turkey was shaped within the confines of Eisenhower’s overall concept of ensuring a balanced budget while putting emphasis on the use of nuclear weapons, a concept which aimed at winning the Cold War in the long run without exhausting the American economy. This concept coupled with the sensitivity of the Republicans about balanced budget and their economic understanding, led to disagreements with Turkey, which was implementing a very ambitious development programs both in the military and economic fields and which was looking to the United States for the primary source of funding. In the eight-year-period of the Eisenhower Administration, an almost perfect cooperation was sustained between the two countries in the military and political fields, while the endless requests for aid by Turkey and the perceived failure of Turkey to stabilize its economy created tensions in the relationship.
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The quest for security: Soviet Union's demands from Turkey, 1945-1946
(2015) Lika, Idlir
Starting with March 1945, Soviet Union launched an intense anti-Turkish propaganda and war of nerves, confronting Ankara with strategic demands, such as jointly administering Straits’ defense, requesting land/naval bases in the Straits and modifying Turkey’s eastern border. This study is a historical account of what transpired during the tense months extending from March 1945 until September 1946. It mainly employs a Turkish perspective on the developments.In addition to constructing a historically comprehensive picture of the events, this study also aims to argue that Soviet demands from Turkey and the firm American stance towards them played a key role in the start of the Cold War. It concludes that Turkish foreign policy adopted a completely new orientation as a result of the Soviet demands and the perceived threat in them.
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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.
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Soğuk savaş dönemi çekişmelerine bir örnek: U 2 Krizi
(Bilkent University, 2018) Gündoğdu, Uğur; Balatlı, Tugay; Yazgan, Bilge Tuğçe; Buyurgan, Bora
Amerika ve Sovyet Rusya’yı karşı karşıya getiren, yakın tarihe “U-2 Uçak Krizi” olarak geçen hadisenin ortaya çıkışında iki süper güç arasındaki stratejik mücadele yatmaktadır. Amerika’nın Sovyetlere karşı duyduğu güvensizlik, krizin patlak vermesinde baş etken olarak gösterilmektir. 1 Mayıs 1960 tarihinde Türkiye’den kalkan U-2 casus uçağının Sovyet topraklarında düşürülmesinin etkileri bu projede Türk basınına yansımalarıyla beraber incelenecektir.
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Türk Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı'ndan Emekli Albay Lütfi Maden'in hayatı
(Bilkent University, 2020) Koş, Ahmet Sait; Demircan, Ayşen; Maden, Can Berke; Paydak, Defne; Bilim, Erdem Uğur
Türk Ordusu mensupları, ülke iç ve dış politikasıyla yakından ilgili olan görevlerinden dolayı, tarih boyunca, Türk siyasi tarihinin bir aktörü olmuşlardır. Asli görevi, ulusal güvenliği sağlamak olan Türk Ordusu, özellikle, 1952 yılında, Türkiye'nin NATO üyesi olmasından sonra küresel askeri meselelerle de yakından ilgili olmuş ve dünya barışına katkılar sunmuştur. Albay Lütfi Maden, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetlerine bağlı bir kuvvet olan Türk Hava Kuvvetlerinde ve Türkiye'yi temsilen NATO'ya bağlı birimlerde görev uzun yıllar görev almış bir Türk subayıdır. Maden, dünya tarihinde Soğuk Savaş dönemi olarak adlandırılan dönemde, 1960- 1992 yılları arasında, Türk Ordusunda görev almıştır. NATO'da görev alan bir Türk subayı olan Maden, NATO üyesi pek çok ülkedenin askeri eğitim faaliyetlerinde yer almış ve NATO'ya ait askeri teçhizatların geliştirilmesinde, görevli almıştır. Bu araştırmada, Maden'in mesleği ile ilgili fotoğraflarından ve kendisiyle yapılan röportajlardan elde edilen mesleki ve özel hayatı hakkındaki bilgilerden yararlanılarak Albay Lütfi Maden'in özel hayatı ve askeri hayatı anlatılmıştır. Dünya tarihi açısından önemli bir dönemde, Türk Ordusunda görevinde yer alan ve NATO'ya bağlı bir asker olarak, yurtdışında görev aldığı ülkelerde, Türkiye'nin diğer NATO üyesi ülkelerle olan siyasi,askeri ve sosyal ilişkilerini inceleme fırsatı bulan Maden'in askeri ve özel hayatı, tarihi bilgiler içeren değerli bir kaynaktır. Lütfi Maden'in hayatından dönem Türkiye'sinin sosyoekonomik koşulları ve Türk dış politikası hakkında önemli çıkarımlarda bulunulabilmektedir.