Turkısh Foreıgn Polıcy I

Yanıt Açıklaması: during the prewar period, the focus of Turkish foreign policy was on maintaining the status quo.

Yanıt Açıklaması: From the mid-1930s onwards, both Britain and Turkey looked for potential allies against rising threats. For Britain, the rise of Nazi Germany was a crucial threat for the stability of Europe and the maintenance of British authority in world politics. For Turkey, Italian revisionism over the Mediterranean posed an existential threat to Turkish independence. Despite having different threat perceptions, Britain and Turkey managed to develop close relations since they feared of losing each other to opponents. Britain feared that Turkey would go into the  German orbit, while Turkey was concerned about the possibility for Britain to form an alliance with Italy. Therefore, both states realized that they were better off as friends rather than enemies.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The new Turkish Republic’s foreign policy toward its Balkan neighbors was based on the idea of ‘unchanging borders.’ After many destructive wars such as the Turkish-Russian War of 1877- 1878 and the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 in the region, Turkey was now experienced enough to realize the conflict-prone nature of the ethnic composition in the Balkans

Yanıt Açıklaması: Thanks to its participation in the Korean War, Turkey finally joined NATO in 1952. The correct answer is C.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Turkey, as a new Republic founded in 1923, was yet again on the razor’s edge; it was forced to make the crucial but possibly fatal decision between remaining as a fully neutral country such as Switzerland, developing some internationally acceptable discourse to maintain a form of neutrality, or establishing some type of alliance with the warring parties.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Secularism, as an essential component of modernization, covers not only the political and governmental life but also the whole social and cultural life. The correct answer is C.

Yanıt Açıklaması: In the early years, the Ottoman Empire followed a military-offensive approach in its foreign relations. However, after the late 17th century, with the beginning of the imperial decline, its main foreign policy objective shifted to preserving the status quo by all military and diplomatic means in an attempt to slow down the loss of territory. Thus, Ottoman Empire adopted the concept of ‘ balance of power ’ as a strategic behavior.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The objectives of this task were discussed at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. Winston Churchill came to Casablanca having prepared plans for possible Turkish entry into the war. He intended to fully support Turkey by providing military equipment.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Bipolar system can be defined as a system of world order in which the distribution of power is held between two states. In this context, these two states control most of economic, military, and cultural impact factors at the international level and/or regional level. In a bipolar system, spheres of influence may develop. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (1947-1991) is the most known case for a bipolar system.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Situated at the geo-political and geo-strategic center of the world, Turkey, some fifteen years after World War I, found herself in a multilateral dilemma.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Structural Determinants are continuous and static variables that shape a country’s foreign policy. They are not directly related to the international political developments and current issues in international politics. They can have long term impact on the determination of foreign policy such as geographical position, historical experiences, and cultural background. Because all the statements are true, the correct answer is E.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Turkish foreign policy-makers had realistic expectations about the demarcation of the national borders of the new Turkish Republic. Defying adventurism in foreign policy, they acted in line with the motto “Peace at home Peace in the world” which was not an idealist or moral statement but mainly a pragmatic statement about the foreign relations of a young republic.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Between 1939 and 1945, World War II created a new paradigm of political dynamics and realities. World War II has been by far the most devastating, traumatic, and violent of the armed conflicts.

Yanıt Açıklaması: At the end of the negotiations, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed at the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923. The Treaty dealt with five main issues; namely, Turkey’s borders, straits, capitulations, minorities and debts. Credits is an issue dealt with, so it is wrong. The correct answer is D.

Yanıt Açıklaması: In order to keep its army intact and to further modernize it, Turkey needed international loans, which were only available from the US at the time. Eventually the American aid started to arrive via the Truman Doctrine (1947) and the Marshall Plan (1948) with various restrictions on their use that went unnoticed at the time. Those restrictions, however, would pose problems for Turkey in the long term. Turkey did not only receive international aid to develop its economy and modernize its military in the 1950s, but also took part in institutions to formalize its ties with the Western world. As a result, in 1948 Turkey joined the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (which is the forerunner of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD. In 1950, Turkey also became one of the founding members of the Council of Europe. Taking part in these European institutions was important for Turkey’s economic and political needs at the time. Saidabad Pact (1937) belongs to the early Republican foreign policy.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The First World War resulted in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. This also meant that the Turkish imperial history came to an end. After three years of national struggle, the Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, established the new Turkish nation-state. The Treaty of Lausanne replaced the Peace Treaty of Sevres, which the Republican Turkey had never signed, and Turkey asserted its complete sovereignty over its current territory with the exception of Hatay (the district of Alexandretta), which finally (re) united with the motherland in 1939. Despite few restrictions on the Turkish Straits and some commercial and judicial privileges, the Treaty of Lausanne has served as the international recognition of the Turkish National Pact (Misak-ı Milli) , which had been adopted in 1920 by the Meclis-i Mebusan, the Ottoman Parliament.

Yanıt Açıklaması: During this transformation period, Turkey rather took a low profile in its foreign policy mainly remaining loyal to its status quoism. Therefore, we do not observe much foreign policy developments on Turkey’s part. The only notable exception was Mosul, which was left unsolved in Lausanne.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Turkey’s international standing during the Cold War could be classified as Western-dependent due to both systemic factors and domestic developments. First of all, the transition from a multipolar to bipolar world system forced Turkey to choose a side as it was a middle-range power with geopolitical importance to bloc leaders. Considering the Soviet pressure on Turkey for territorial adjustments and its westernization process, Turkey preferred the Western camp at the end of the Second World War. Parallel to the transformation in the international system, Turkey’s domestic politics also experienced major changes moving into a multiparty system. The political desire for democratization also contributed to Turkey’s move to closer relations with the Western democracies. Turkey’s economic needs at the end of the War and extensive requirements for economic and military foreign aid also exacerbated its western dependency. Last but not least, Cyprus problem became a crucial foreign policy determinant starting from early 1960s. Considering the explanations above, we see that Turkey’s international standing is Western not Eastern, so the correct answer is E.