The Middle East in Turkey–USA Relations: Managing the Alliance

Abstract

The Middle East has been increasingly factoring into the relations between Turkey and the USA since the end of the cold war. Ironically, the issues related to this region simultaneously intensify and erode the bilateral relations. For the USA, the significance of Turkey has always related to some extent to the Middle East. For Turkey, on the other hand, during the cold war years this connection was not always welcomed. In the aftermath of the cold war, the Middle East became one of the most significant elements of the alliance, a development that was accepted by both sides. The changes in the international arena, such as the end of bipolarity and post-9/11 developments as well as regional changes, particularly the Iraqi crises, Iranian nuclear issue, the Arab uprisings and changes in the regional balance of power, had an impact on the evolution of American–Turkish relations and created both convergence and divergence of interests. Finally, domestic politics, especially the ideology and policies of state actors, had a bearing on bilateral relations in the context of the Middle East. As Turkey became more active and developed particular interests in the Middle East, the crises in Turkey–USA relations began to occur more frequently and led to bargaining processes between the two allies.

Notes

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[3] The Joint American Military Mission to Aid Turkey was a military modernization programme established as part of containment of the Soviet Union in the context of the Truman Doctrine.

[4] The National Archives, US Department of State, Foreign Relations, 1952–54, Vol. 9, p. 202, < http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/059.html>.

[5] The National Archives, US Department of State, Foreign Relations, 1950, Vol. 5, p. 260, < http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/059.html>.

[6] The National Archives, US Department of State, Foreign Relations, 1952–54, Vol. 9, p. 202, < http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/059.html>.

[7] William Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy, 1774–2000, Frank Cass, London, 2002, p. 125.

[8] Malik Mufti, Daring and Caution in Turkey's Strategic Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2009, p. 35.

[9] Malik Mufti, Daring and Caution in Turkey's Strategic Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2009, p. 35

[10] Edward J. Erickson, ‘Turkey as a regional hegemon—2014: strategic implications for the United States’, Turkish Studies, 5(3), autumn 2004, p. 26.

[11] John E. Peterson, Defending Arabia, Croom Helm, London, 1986, p. 25.

[12] American Foreign Policy Documents, Department of State, Washington, DC, 1977/1980, p. 55.

[13] American Foreign Policy Documents, Department of State, Washington, DC, 1977/1980, p. 593.

[14] Mufti, op. cit., p. 54.

[15] Cf. Ömer Karasapan, ‘Turkey and the US strategy in the age of glasnost’, Middle East Report, 19(5), September 1989, pp. 8–9.

[16] Cf. Ömer Karasapan, ‘Turkey and the US strategy in the age of glasnost’, Middle East Report, 19(5), September 1989, p. 9.

[17] John Tirman, ‘Improving Turkey's “bad neighborhood”’, World Policy Journal, 15(1), spring 1998, p. 62.

[18] Ian Lesser, ‘Turkey and the United States: anatomy of a strategic partnership’, in Lenore G. Martin and Dimitris Kerides (eds), The Future of Turkish Foreign Policy, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004, p. 84.

[19] US Department of State, Daily Press Briefing, 9 May 1997, p. 127.

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[21] Sabri Sayarı, ‘Turkish–American relations in the post-cold war era: issues of convergence and divergence’, in Mustafa Aydın and Çağrı Erhan (eds), Turkish–American Relations: Past, Present and Future, Routledge, London, 2004, p. 91.

[22] The American Presidency Project, < http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid = 56935>.

[23] Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative, US Department of State, < http://www.bmena.state.gov/>.

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[25] George W. Bush, Remarks at Galatasaray University in Istanbul, 29 June 2004, < http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid = 64397&st = Turkey&st1 = >.

[26] CNN.com , 16 October 2002.

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[28] CNNTurk, 6 June 2003; Aylin Güney, ‘An anatomy of the transformation of the US–Turkish alliance: from “cold war” to “War on Iraq”’, Turkish Studies, 6(3), September 2005, p. 353.

[29] Hürriyet, 7 July 2003, p. 1.

[30] See, for instance, Rajan Menon and S. Enders Wimbush, ‘The US and Turkey: end of an alliance?’, Survival, 49(2), summer 2007, pp. 129–144; Steven Cook, ‘How do you say “frenemy” in Turkish? Meet America's new rival in the Middle East’, Foreign Affairs, 1 June 2010, < http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/01/how_do_you_say_frenemy_in_turkish>. For a critique of the Bush administration's approach to Turkey, see a piece by former US ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris, ‘Common values and common interests? The Bush legacy in US–Turkish relations’, Insight Turkey, 10(4), 2008.

[31] Steven Cook, ‘The USA, Turkey, and the Middle East: continuities, challenges, and opportunities’, Turkish Studies, 12(4), December 2011, p. 717.

[32] Nuh Yılmaz, ‘US–Turkey relations: model partnership as an “empty signifier”’, Insight Turkey, 13(1), 2011, p. 23.

[33] ‘Davutoglu rules out shift from transatlantic axis’, Today's Zaman, 23 March 2009, < http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action;jsessionid = 6C7E873C862C858B6154422CA466441B?load = detay&link = 170388&bolum = 102&newsId = 170217>.

[34] See, for instance, Kadir Üstün and Kılıç Kanat, ‘US–Turkey relations: Arab Spring and the search for model partnership’, SETA DC Perspective, May 2012, p. 3, < http://setadc.org/perspective/437-us-turkey-relations-arab-spring-and-the-search-for-model-partnership>; Joshua W. Walker, ‘The spirit of the Truman Doctrine: 65 years of strategic partnership between the United States and Turkey’, TEPAV, Turkey Policy Brief Series, 2012, < http://www.tepav.org.tr/upload/files/1342768089-7.The_Spirit_of_the_Truman_Doctrine_65_Years_of_Strategic_Partnership_between_the_United_States_and_Turkey__by_Joshua_W._Walker.pdf>.

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[36] ‘US hails deal with Turkey on missile shield’, New York Times, 15 September 2011, < http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/world/europe/turkey-accepts-missile-radar-for-nato-defense-against-iran.html?_r = 0>

[37] Sean Kane, ‘US interests in Iraq: like a good neighbor, Turkey is there’, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2011, < http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0713/US-interests-in-Iraq-Like-a-good-neighbor-Turkey-is-there>.

[38] Deputy Secretary Nicholas J. Burns, Interview with Anatolia News Agency, 10 January 2012, < http://www.state.gov/s/d/2012/180419.htm>.

[39] Üstün and Kanat, op. cit.

[40] ‘As fighting rages, Clinton seeks new Syrian opposition’, New York Times, 31 October 2012, < http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/world/middleeast/syrian-air-raids-increase-as-battle-for-strategic-areas-intensifies-rebels-say.html?_r = 0>.

[41] ‘Erdoğan: we will not stop, until Palestine becomes a UN member’, TRT English, 12 December 2012, < http://www.trt-world.com/trtworld/en/newsDetail.aspx?haberkodu = be4c965c-7487-4f2f-a6ae-09e09c286dd6>.

[42] ‘Turkey hails UN Palestine vote, regrets US opposition’, Today's Zaman, 30 November 2012, < http://www.todayszaman.com/news-299747-turkey-hails-un-palestine-vote-regrets-us-opposition.html>.

[43] Ian O. Lesser, ‘The state of US–Turkish relations: moving beyond geopolitics’, Atlantic Council, n.d., < http://www.acus.org/publication/us-turkey-relations-require-new-focus/lesser>.

[44] Glenn H. Snyder, Alliance Politics, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2007, p. 165.