Turkey's attempts to improve its reputation during the making of the post-war Turkish-American rapprochment (1945–1950)

ABSTRACT

Making use of archival material and newspapers, this article argues that Turkish concerns over reputation played a central role for Turkey in the making of the post-War Turkish-American rapprochement. Both government and opposition parties in Turkey as well as Turkish journalists, diplomats and students who were studying in the United States waged a campaign to make Turkey appear to be a reputable, modern, and civilized ally of the United States. Establishing an information bureau in New York, trying to prevent the exhibition of American movies that misrepresented Turkey and gladly hosting American journalists who visited Turkey, Turkish authorities tried to give the message that Turkey was under the Soviet threat and deserved to be included in the Marshall Plan.

KEYWORDS:

• Turkey
• The United States
• early Cold War
• Turkish Press
• reputation

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the journal’s anonymous reviewers and Gözde Emen for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on Contributor

Semih Gökatalay was a graduate of Middle East Technical University in Ankara and is currently a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of California at San Diego. His Ph.D. dissertation examines the economic and business history of the Middle East during the transition from empire to nation-states. His thesis is being supervised by Hasan Kayalı and Michael Provence.

ORCID

Semih Gökatalay http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1524-7079

Notes

1 Sadak, “M. Roosevelt İşe Başlarken.”

2 Cossaboom and Leiser, “Adana Station 1943–45,” 73.

3 McCauley, Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1949, 65.

4 Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 296.

5 Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, 102.

6 Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 296.

7 Türkkaya, Turkish Foreign Policy 1939–1945, 126.

8 Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, 103.

9 Koçak, İktidar ve Demokratlar, 533.

10 Küçükömer, Düzenin Yabancılaşması Batılaşma, 116–7; Avcıoğlu, Türkiye’nin Düzeni, 546; Kürkçüoğlu, ““Dış Politika” Nedir?”, 323; Arcayürek, Şeytan Üçgeninde Türkiye, 10; Eroğul, Demokrat Parti, 3–5; and Gerger, Türk Dış Politikasının Ekonomi Politiği, 41.

11 Karakuş, 40 Yıllık Bir Gazeteci Gözü ile İşte Ankara, 83.

12 Khalidi, Sowing Crisis, 41.

13 Koçak, İktidar ve Demokratlar, 244.

14 Koçak, İkinci Parti, 22.

15 Fox, The Power of Small States, 2–5.

16 Oran, “Dönemin Bilançosu,” 496.

17 Şimşir, Bizim Diplomatlar, 195.

18 Us, “Türk-Amerikan Dostluğu.”

19 Matbuat Umum Müdürlüğü, Turkey Today, 7.

20 “Turkish Democrat Accuses Officials,” The New York Times, May 14, 1946, p. 11.

21 17 June 1946: Başbakanlık Cumhuriyet Arşivi (hereafter BCA), 30 1 0 0 101 624 2, 1–2.

22 Spalding, The First Cold Warrior, 41.

23 Koçak, Rejim Krizi, 55–6.

24 For his book that was based on his dissertation, see [Yalman], The Development of Modern Turkey.

25 They were Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın, editor of Yeni Sabah and dean of Turkish journalists, Abidin Daver, editor of İkdam, and Zekeriya Sertel, editor of Tan.

26 “President Greets Turks,” The New York Times, October 3, 1942, p. 5.

27 “Welles Indicated Levant’s Big Role,” The New York Times, October 4, 1942, p. 31.

28 Esmer, “Crux of World Politics,” 290–302.

29 Yalman, “The Struggle,” 46–58. For another example that was written by CHP MP for Samsun and first chair of United Nations Association of Turkey Cemil Bilsel, see Bilsel, “Turkish Straits.”

30 Avcıoğlu, Türkiye’nin Düzeni, 545, and Berkes, Unutulan Yıllar, 365–6.

31 Reynolds, From World War to Cold War, 282.

32 12 March 1947: Wilson Center Digital Archive [hereafter WCDA], Truman Doctrine, ‘Recommendations for Assistance to Greece and Turkey.’

33 Hitchcock, “The Marshall Plan,” 154–174.

34 14 March 1947: BCA, 30 10 0 0 268 806 9 1, 1. Turkish students who were students of American universities at that time also contributed to this process. For example, see Laçin, -The Importance of the Straits Being a U.S.-born Turk, Laçin wrote that "It is assumed that the Turkish Republic cannot tolerate the loss of her sovereignty over the Straits, but the strength of her protests will vary in proportion to the assistance which she may receive from the United States" (293).

35 For instance, see the report sent by Nüzhet Baba, Turkish press attaché in the United States, about the United States presidential election of 1948 22 May 1948: BCA, 30 1 0 0 101 627 14. And for the one about the result of the elections: 16 December 1948: BCA, 30 1 0 0 101 628 11.

36 “Basın ve Yayın İşleri,” Cumhuriyet, April 13, 1949, p. 4.

37 5 September 1946: BCA, 30 1 0 0 11 65 5 3, 3.

38 5 May 1947: BCA, 30 10 0 0 85 564 2, 5.

39 5 May 1947: BCA, 30 10 0 0 85 564 2, 6.

40 5 May 1947: BCA, 30 10 0 0 85 564 2, 7.

41 5 May 1947: BCA, 30 10 0 0 85 564 2, 2.

42 24 June 1947: BCA, 30 18 1 2 114 41 7, 2.

43 24 July 1947: BCA, 30 18 1 2 114 48 14, 1.

44 21 September 1948: BCA, 30 18 1 2 117 59 7, 1; 12 January 1949: BCA, 30 18 1 2 118 89 7, 1; 25 February 1949: BCA, 30 18 1 2 118 100 7, 1.

45 “Turks to Open Bureau Here,” The New York Times, August 14, 1947, 11.

46 21 November 1946: Foreign Relations of the United States (hereafter FRUS), 501. BB Summaries / 11-2146: Telegram, Senator Austin to the Secretary of State, United States Department of State Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946. General; the United Nations (1946), 484.

47 Esmer, “Russia and Turkey.”

48 “Turkey Held Hurt by Own Ineptitude,” The New York Times, November 10, 1947, p. 2.

49 Esmer, “Conditions in Turkey.”

50 27 December 1947: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Tutanakları (hereafter TBMM), 8 3 8 24, 30.

51 27 December 1947: TBMM, 8 3 8 24, 30.

52 For the historical development of anti-Turkish feelings in the United States, see McCarthy, The Turk in America.

53 29 June 1949: BCA, 30 11 1 0 206 18 6, 1. The Press, Broadcasting, and Tourism Bureau published several books about Turkey in English during this period. For example, see Gülekli, Hagia Sophia.

54 “Turkey Fills News Post,” The New York Times, February 11, 1949, p. 21.

55 “B. ve Yayın Genel Md.nün Beyanatı,” Yeni Sabah, June 9, 1949, p. 1.

56 14 May 1937: BCA, 30 10 0 0 268 804 4 1, 1–3.

57 Eleanor Roosevelt, “My Day, March 29, 1937,” The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition (2017), accessed 21/8/2018, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1937&_f=md054603.

58 14 May 1937: BCA, 30 10 0 0 268 804 4 1, 4.

59 The first four minutes of the movie can be watched on www.facebook.com/themarchoftime/videos/10154360278515203.

60 26 February 1947: BCA, 30 18 1 2 113 14 3.

61 13 January 1947: BCA, 30 18 1 2 112 88 12.

62 “Turkey’s 100 Million,” Life, October 27, 1947, p. 149.

63 “Turkey’s 100 Million,” Life, September 29, 1947, 129.

64 27 September 1948: BCA, 30 18 1 2 268 806 17, 1–2.

65 McGhee, The US-Turkish-NATO Middle East Connection, 18–21.

66 12 April 1949: FRUS, Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State, Secretary’s Memoranda, Lot 53 D 444, 1649–50.

67 Sadak, “Turkey Faces the Soviets,” 449–61.

68 27 September 1948: BCA, 30 10 0 0 268 806 17 7, 6.

69 27 September 1948: BCA, 30 10 0 0 268 806 17 7, 4–7.

70 Goodwin, Walter Lippmann, 2.

71 Lippmann, Public Opinion, 277.

72 Lippmann, “The Ideological Contest.”

73 Porter, “Beyond the American Century,” 557–77.

74 Lippmann, The Cold War.

75 11 May 1933: BCA, 30 10 0 0 267 802 10, 1.

76 15 January 1948: BCA, 30 1 0 0 101 625 12, 1, 5.

77 Kuntay, “Truman’ın Nutku,” and Erim, “Amerikan Dış Politikası Hakkında.”

78 For the original article, see Lippmann, “Disorder at the Top.”

79 “Yarım Tedbirlere Son Verilmelidir,” Akşam, April 20, 1948, pp. 1–2. For one of the translations of Lippmann’s articles, see “İktibaslar: Kremlin’in Şüphesi,” Ulus, February 15, 1949, p. 1.

80 “Marûf Amerikan Gazetecisi Lipmann Geliyor,” Yeni Sabah, October 14, 1949, p. 2, and “Valter Lipman Geliyor,” Akşam, October 22, 1949, p. 1.

81 “Walter Lippman Bugün Ankarada,” Zafer, October 31, 1949, p. 1.

82 “Amerikalı Gazeteci Lippman Ankara’da,” Yeni Sabah, November 1, 1949, pp. 1, 5.

83 “Lippman İstanbula Geliyor,” Yeni Sabah, November 2, 1949, p. 1.

84 “Lipmann Dün Gitti,” Yeni Sabah, November 6, 1949, p. 1.

85 On 15 March 1950, a group of twenty-one American journalists came to Turkey. The reason for their visit was their research on the aid-receiver countries. After their visit in Istanbul, Major General welcomed the American journalists at the he Turkish Military Academy. See “Amerikalı Gazeteci Grubu Dün Geldi,” Zafer, March 16, 1950, pp. 1, 6.

86 “Meşhur Bir Amerikalı Gazeteci Şehrimizde,” Zafer, March 17, 1950, p. 6, and “McCormick Dün Gece Gitti,” Cumhuriyet, March 19, 1950, p. 1.

87 “Col. McCormick Arrives in Ankara on Air Tour,” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 17, 1950, p. 3.

88 After DP came to power in May 1950, Şükrü Esmer took a two-months leave of absence. In December of 1950, he was appointed as a professor of political history at the Ankara University (2 December 1950: BCA, 30 11 1 0 219 45 8, 1).

89 12 January 1950: BCA, 30 18 1 2 121 96 4, 1.

90 “To Promote Tours of Turkey,” The New York Times, January 18, 1950, p. 14.

91 “Amerikalılar ve Biz,” Cumhuriyet, January 27, 1950, p. 3, and “Türkiye Turistik Bakımdan Kalkındırılacak,” Yeni İstanbul, January 27, 1950, p. 3.

92 “Hotels Here Fails to Awe Europeans,” The New York Times, January 24, 1950, p. 5.

93 Türkkan, as lecturer on language and history at Columbia History, started to conduct a weekly program in the Turkish language for the first time in the United States in April 1952. See “Radio-TV Notes,” The New York Times, April 18, 1952, p. 35.

94 Türkkan, “Amerikanın Şark Siyaseti.”

95 Noderer, “Col. McCormick in Milan.”

96 McCormick, “Turkey.”

97 “Teach English in Middle East: Col. McCormick,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 20, 1950, p. 3.

98 “Attache Here From Turkey,” The New York Times, February 18, 1950, p. 10.

99 Sulzberger, “Turkey Again.”

100 “Turkish Confidence,” The Washington Post, May 17, 1950, p. 12.

101 “U.S. Praises Turkey for Democratic Ballot,” The Washington Post, May 17, 1950, p. 3.

102 22 May 1950: FRUS, Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State to the President (782.00/5-2250), 39–40.

103 For an example of such views see 16 March 1950: FRUS, Report of the Near East Regional Conference in Cairo, 2–8.