Turkey–United States relations

Turkish-American relations in the post-WW2 period evolved from the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and Turkey's entrance into World War II on the side of the Allies in February 1945, as a result of which Turkey became a charter member of the United Nations.cite web|url=http://www.un.org/Overview/growth.htm |title=Growth in United Nations membership (1945–2005)|author=United Nations|authorlink=United Nations|publisher=United Nations|accessdate=2006-10-30|date=2006-07-03] Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in large scale U.S. military and economic support.cite book|title=Outposts and Allies: U.S. Army Logistics in the Cold War, 1945-1953|first=James A.|last=Huston|publisher=Susquehanna University Press|location= |year=1988|id=ISBN 0-9416-6484-8|url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0941664848&id=ID4E3Lm8TsgC&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&ots=Yg9KqG871J&dq=turkey+cold+war&sig=d5Xry3n-9lmlUZTnM6tpFBBtxOQ#PPA177,M1] After participating with United Nations forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952.

The friendliness of Turkey towards the United States has declined markedly over the past five years. A June 2007 Pew Research Center survey found that only 9% of Turkish citizens have a favorable opinion of the United States, the lowest percentage out of all 47 countries surveyed, below the Palestinian territories (13% have a favorable view of the U.S.) and Pakistan (15%). [cite web |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=256 |title=Global Unease With Major World Powers |accessdate=2007-10-26 |author=Pew Research Center |date=June 27, 2007] The decline of U.S.-Turkish relations is primarily a result of the United States' instigation of and action in the Iraq War. Turkey views the Iraq war as a significant threat because northern Iraq acts as a safe-haven for a Kurdish terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Furthermore, Turkey views the destabilization of Iraq as a possible impetus for Kurds to claim their independence from Turkey, Iraq, and/or other Middle Eastern countries with significant Kurdish populations. In October 2007, the quality of the Turkish-American relationship was further degraded by attempts in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill condemning the Armenian Genocide, perpetrated from 1915–1917 by the Ottoman Empire. [cite web |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1429966620071014 |title=Armenia genocide measure to advance |accessdate=2007-10-26 |author=Reuters |date=October 14, 2007]

Early relationship

Turkey's most important international relationship has been with the United States since the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War. Turkey's association with the United States began in 1947 when the United States Congress designated Turkey, under the provisions of the Truman Doctrine, as the recipient of special economic and military assistance intended to help it resist threats from the Soviet Union. A mutual interest in containing Soviet expansion provided the foundation of U.S.-Turkish relations for the next four decades. In support of overall United States Cold War strategy, Turkey contributed personnel to the United Nations forces in the Korean War (1950-53), joined NATO in 1952, became a founding member of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) collective defense pact established in 1955, and endorsed the principles of the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine. In the 1950s and 1960s, Turkey generally cooperated with other United States allies in the Middle East (Iran, Israel, and Jordan) to contain the influence of those countries (Egypt, Iraq, and Syria) regarded as Soviet clients. Throughout the Cold War, Turkey has been the bulwark of NATO's southeastern flank, directly bordering Warsaw Pact countries and risking nuclear war on its soil during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Since 1954, Turkey hosts the Incirlik Air Base, an important operations base of the United States Air Force, which has played a critical role during the Cold War, the Gulf War, and the recent Iraq War.

Invasion of Cyprus

The most difficult period in the U.S.-Turkish relations was the time of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, which was in response to a Greek-inspired coup that ousted the Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios and installed Nikos Sampson in his place, who aimed to establish Enosis (Union) between Cyprus and Greece, which was then ruled by the Greek military junta. In response to the Turkish intervention, the United States halted arms supplies to Turkey. Ankara retaliated by suspending United States military operations at all Turkish installations that were not clearly connected with NATO missions. The Cyprus issue affected the U.S.-Turkish relations for several years. Even after the United States Congress lifted the arms embargo in 1978, two years passed before bilateral defense cooperation and military assistance were restored to their pre-1974 level.

1980s

During the 1980s, relations between Turkey and the United States gradually recovered the closeness of earlier years. Although Ankara resented continued attempts by the United States Congress to restrict military assistance to Turkey because of Cyprus and to introduce congressional resolutions condemning the Armenian Genocide, the Özal government generally perceived the administrations of President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush as sympathetic to Turkish interests. It was in this period that the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) was established and started to licence-build F-16 Fighting Falcon jets in Turkey. Washington also demonstrated its support of Özal's market-oriented economic policies and efforts to open the Turkish economy to international trade by pushing for acceptance of an International Monetary Fund program to provide economic assistance to Turkey. Furthermore, the United States, unlike European countries, did not persistently and publicly criticize Turkey over allegations of human rights violations. Also, the United States did not pressure Özal on the Kurdish problem, another issue that seemed to preoccupy the Europeans. By 1989 the United States had recovered a generally positive image among the Turkish political elite.

After the Cold War

The end of the Cold War forced Turkish leaders to reassess their country's international position. The disappearance of the Soviet threat and the perception of being excluded from Europe have created a sense of vulnerability with respect to Turkey's position in the fast-changing global political environment. Özal believed Turkey's future security depended on the continuation of a strong relationship with the United States. For that reason, he supported the United States' position during the Persian Gulf War, although Turkey's economic ties to Iraq were extensive and their disruption hurt the country. After the war, he continued to support major United States initiatives in the region, including the creation of a no-fly zone over northern Iraq, the Arab-Israeli peace process, and expanded ties with the Central Asian members of the CIS. Özal's pro-United States policy was not accepted by all Turks. The United States' use of Turkish military installations during the bombing of Iraq in 1991 led to antiwar demonstrations in several cities, and sporadic attacks on United States facilities continued in 1992 and 1993. Nevertheless, among Turkey's political elite, a consensus had emerged by January 1995 that Turkey's security depended on remaining a strategic ally of the United States. For that reason, both the Demirel and Çiller governments undertook efforts to cultivate relations with the administrations of presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Current relations

Turkey has remained a close ally of the United States, supporting it in the war on terror in the post September 11 climate. However, the Iraq war faced strong domestic opposition in Turkey and as such, the Turkish Parliament couldn't reach the absolute majority of 276 votes needed for allowing U.S. troops to attack Iraq from Turkey, the final tally being 264 votes for and 250 against. This led to a brief period of cooling in relations, particularly following the "hood event", which was perceived as an act of hostility in Turkey. However, bilateral relations between the two allies soon regained momentum through diplomatic, humanitarian and indirect military support. The vast majority of the military and civilian logistic support to U.S. troops stationed in Iraq goes through Turkey by land, or through Turkish air space.

Ankara is particularly cautious about an independent Kurdish state arising from a destabilized Iraq. Turkey has fought an insurgent war against the PKK, a guerrilla group (recognized as a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union) seeking Kurdish independence, in which more than 37,000 people have lost their lives. This has led Ankara to pressure the U.S. into clamping down on guerrilla training camps in northern Iraq, though the U.S. remains reluctant due to northern Iraq's relative stability compared to the rest of the country as well as its lack of spare forces to divert away from the more contentious areas of Iraq. On October 17, 2007, the Turkish Parliament voted in favour of allowing the Turkish Armed Forces to take military action against the PKK rebels based in northern Iraq. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7049348.stm BBC: Turkish MPs back attacks in Iraq] ] In response, U.S. President George W. Bush stated that he did not believe it's in Turkey's interests to send troops into Iraq. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/17/turkey.iraq/index.html CNN: Turkey approves Iraq incursion] ]

In late 2007, Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States, after the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a United States resolution on the Armenian incidents in the Ottoman Empire. This resulted in a delay of a full House vote on Res. 106. Speaker Pelosi has pledged to bring the resolution to a full vote, but pressure from the White House and Turkey has kept her from doing so. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/11/us.turkey.armenians/index.html Turkey recalls ambassador over genocide resolution - CNN.com ] ]

Nevertheless, the two NATO, OECD, OSCE and G-20 allies continue to cooperate in important projects, such as the Joint Strike Fighter program. The United States also actively supports Turkey's membership bid to join the European Union, lobbying frequently on behalf of Ankara through its diplomatic missions in EU capital cities. In June 2008, The United States and Turkey began to cooperate on peaceful uses of nuclear energy with a pact that aims for the transfer of technology, material, reactors and components for nuclear research and nuclear power production in Turkey for an initial 15-year period followed by automatic renewals in five-year increments that provides a comprehensive framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation between the two nations under the agreed non-proliferation conditions and controls. A parallel U.S. bipartisan resolution has recently highlighted the importance for Turkish Republic's key role in providing her western (EU and US) and regional allies Eurasian energy security.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has recently started a one-year initiative project to evaluate and enhance the Turkish Republic - United States strategic partnership, aiming a plan of implementation of the concluded framework at the end of this phase.

Visits

Media

*The sound file of the message by President John F. KENNEDY to The Turkish People on Kemal Atatürk and the Anniversary of the Republic, Recorded in October 1963

ee also

*Foreign relations of the United States
*Foreign relations of Turkey

References

*"U.S. House United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs" [http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/bara051105.pdf]
*"U.S. Library of Congress" [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html]

External links

* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3432.htm U.S. Department of State Background Note: Turkey]
* [http://ankara.usembassy.gov U.S. Embassy in Turkey]
* [http://turcopundit.blogspot.com/ TurcoPundit - Turkey, U.S. and Beyond]
* [http://www.asam.org.tr/fpr/ZRecommendations.doc Recommendations for Strengthening U.S.-Turkish Relations]
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