Turkish-American relations from 1964 to 1980: the period of crisis

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2019
Kalender, Yasemin Ece
Turkey and the USA, allies under the umbrella of NATO since 1952, witnessed certain disagreements from 1964 to 1980, unlike the period from 1947 to 1964 which was the “golden age” or full convergence of Turkish-American relations. Amicable relations between the two states had a certain breakdown when the Johnson Letter received by the Turkish Prime Minister İsmet İnönü in 1964. The historic letter led a period of crisis until 1980 when the military coup d’etat took place in Turkey. The period was the almost full divergence of Turkish-American relations mainly because of their different policies on the Cyprus issue. Turkey had a certain responsibility and right to protect Turkish Cypriots as one of the three guarantor powers (Turkey, Great Britain, Greece) while the USA aimed to protect the island’s territorial integrity against the Soviet threat. In this regard, Turkey’s Cyprus Peace Operation took place in 1974 despite the policies implemented by the USA to prevent possible intervention to Cyprus by Turkey. Immediately afterwards, the relations were damaged and formed on the basis of their critical disagreements and serious problems. This thesis offers a chronological analysis of the relations between Turkey and the USA significantly altering as a result of the divergence on the background of major historical events took place during the period between 1964 and 1980. In this sense, the relations are explained in mainly three chapters (general perspectives of their foreign policy, the early American-Turkish relations by the Johnson Letter, and the period between 1964 to 1980).

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Citation Formats
Y. E. Kalender, “Turkish-American relations from 1964 to 1980: the period of crisis,” Thesis (M.S.) -- Graduate School of Social Sciences. International Relations., Middle East Technical University, 2019.