The Approach of Turkish-American Accord

Turkish-American relations have more than 200 years
of history, but the agreements cemented after WWII
brought unprecedented mutual political, economic, and
cultural exchange to the two nations. Traditional
scholarship has located the impetus for this
development in the geopolitical strategies of
the Soviet Union, to which the United States was
forced to react. This study re-examines one aspect
of this traditional interpretation, concluding that,
according to the information published by Ulus
newspaper (the contemporary Turkish government s
semi-official mouthpiece) before and during WWII, the
Turkish government was already pro-American before
WWII, stayed firmly pro-Allies during the war, and
became even more staunchly pro-American as the war
wound down into the new bipolar world. The author
closes the text by calling for a reappraisal of the
roots of postwar Turkish-American developments
through new research on relations between the two
countries in the 1930s and during WWII. This study
will be of interest to those examining the sources of
Turkish-U.S. post-WWII relations, or the avenues
through which U.S. culture has made its way into the
Turkish public space.

Autorentext

Adam B. McConnel, MA History Sabanci University 2008, is aHistory PhD candidate at Sabanci University in Istanbul. Hisresearch interests focus on Turkish-U.S. relations and TurkishRepublican history. He has resided in Istanbul since 1999.

Klappentext

Turkish-American relations have more than 200 yearsof history, but the agreements cemented after WWIIbrought unprecedented mutual political, economic, andcultural exchange to the two nations. Traditionalscholarship has located the impetus for thisdevelopment in the geopolitical strategies ofthe Soviet Union, to which the United States wasforced to react. This study re-examines one aspectof this traditional interpretation, concluding that,according to the information published by Ulusnewspaper (the contemporary Turkish government'ssemi-official mouthpiece) before and during WWII, theTurkish government was already pro-American beforeWWII, stayed firmly pro-Allies during the war, andbecame even more staunchly pro-American as the warwound down into the new bipolar world. The authorcloses the text by calling for a reappraisal of theroots of postwar Turkish-American developmentsthrough new research on relations between the twocountries in the 1930s and during WWII. This studywill be of interest to those examining the sources ofTurkish-U.S. post-WWII relations, or the avenuesthrough which U.S. culture has made its way into theTurkish public space.