The US – Turkey relations has been based on mutual foreign policy interest in the region. Turkey became a major US ally after WWII due to their shared opposition to the political and military policies of the USSR. In Turkey the US found a reliable and militarily powerful local ally who would cooperate in stopping the spread of USSR's Communist ideas and military hegemony in the region. In the US the Turkey found an economically and militarily powerful ally who also viewed the USSR (also a historic enemy of the Ottoman empire) as an enemy and was willing to assist Turkey. The supply of high quality US weaponry to the Turkish army was also another motivating factor behind Turkey's siding with the US. The culmination of the security co-operation between the two countries was the admittance of Turkey as a full NATO member in 1957.
After the fall of the USSR , Turkey and the US shifted their efforts towards mutual cooperation in the war against terror and fundamentalist organisations in the region.
Incidents where both US and Turkey have co-operated on joint issues of security and foreign policy include:
• Turkey amassing its troops on Syria's border in 1957 due to a land dispute between the two countries. America lent its full backing to Turkey as a NATO member
• Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974. Although in the eyes of the international community Turkey's act was illegal, nevertheless the US did not impose any sanctions against Turkey for its act.
• Turkey was an important player in America's plans to stop the spread of Ayatollah Khomeini's fundamentalist version of Shiite Islam in the region
• US provided tacit political support to Turkey during Ankara's campaign against the Kurdish separatists group (the PKK) in Turkey
• Turkey was a key contributor of infrastructure, logistics and military forces to the US allied forces during the first Gulf War against Iraq in 1991
• Use of Turkish airbases was a key factor in US and allied campaign to impose a no fly zone over Iraq from 1993 – 2003
• High level political and military co-operation between the two countries was a contributing factor for the success of the NATO campaign against Milisovic's Yugoslav army in Kosovo
• Turkey's political support to the US in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan which was followed by dispatch of Turkish forces as UN peace keepers there were positive contributing factors to US plans in Afghanistan.
• The US subduing Kurdish calls for an independent state in Northern Iraq as per Turkey's request. Turkey's hostility towards the creation of a Kurdish state in Iraq arises out of the fact that it may create a momentum and a precedent for those calling for the creation of a Kurdish state in Turkey.
• US support for Turkey's application to join the EU has been noted as a contributing factor towards acceptance of Turkey for entry talks. Although the US is not a EU member it applied pressure behind the scene with the help of US allies in the EU (notably the UK).
It must also be noted that on a number of occasions the US and Turkey have found themselves on opposite sides. The most recent example includes Turkey's refusal to allow America to launch military forces from Turkish territory during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This decision reduced th efficiency and speed of the allied attacks against Saddam's forces. By: Meir Javedanfar- www.meepas.com Back |
