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Review Article

Reflections of Peace Corps in Turkish Press: Why Did They Come? Why Did They Go?

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Received 05 Apr 2024, Accepted 04 Jun 2024, Published online: 13 Jun 2024
 

Abstract

The Peace Corps, emerged as a project designed during the Cold War for presidential election promise of John F. Kennedy in 1960 and the first group was sent to Turkey in 1962 and started its activities. The arrival of the Peace Corps in Turkey, their activities and various allegations against them were discussed in detail by the Turkish press. This article aims to reveal the reflections of the presence and activities of Peace volunteers in Turkey on the Turkish press. In this study, using document analysis methods, articles about the activities of Peace Corps in newspapers and magazines with different publishing policies were examined. The Turkish press, affected by the political polarization of the period, also discussed their views on the activities of the Peace Corps in the context of their ideological stance. In the Turkish press, newspapers and magazines which had socialist publication policies such as Ant, Yön, Dönüşüm, Cumhuriyet mainly discussed that Peace Corps acted with the idea of spreading American thought and carried out spying activities. Although there were minor criticisms in mainstream newspapers such as Hürriyet and Milliyet, it was observed that publications were made on the promotion of the development activities of Peace Corps.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Müslim Özbalkan, Gizli Belgelerle Barış Gönüllüleri (İstanbul: Ant Yayınları, 1970), 23.

2 Roger L. Landrum, The Role Of The Peace Corps In Educatıon in Developıng Countrıes: A Sector Study (Information Collection and Exchange Reprint Series R-49, Washington, DC, 1984), 12 and Tom Brosnahan, Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea: On the Road with a Travel Writer (Travel Info Exchange, 2005).

3 ‘Barış Gönüllülerini Yetiştiren Türk’leri Açıklıyoruz’, Ant Dergisi, 4 Nov. 1969.

4 Gökhan Eşel, Amerikan Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri (İstanbul: İleri Yayınları, 2016), 26.

5 Ibid., 78.

6 Oktay Akbaş, ‘Amerikan gönüllü kuruluşları: Barış gönüllülerinin dünyada ve Türkiye’deki çalışmaları’, Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 4/1 (2006), 93.

7 Müslim Özbalkan, Gizli Belgelerle Barış Gönüllüleri (İstanbul: Ant Yayınları, 1970), 23.

8 Gökhan Eşel, Amerikan Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri, (İstanbul: İleri Yayınları, 2016), 92 and Lütfi Duran, ‘Dış Münasebetler Yasadışı’, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, 8 July 1963; Gündüz Ökçün, ‘İkili Anlaşmalardan Hangileri Gizli Olabilir?’, Yön Dergisi, 1966.

9 Müslim Özbalkan, Gizli Belgelerle Barış Gönüllüleri (İstanbul: Ant Yayınları, 1970), 22; and John Perkins, Jaguara Dokunmak, 28 and Sezai Orkunt, “Barış Gönüllüleri”, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, 10 Dec. 1966; Kemal O. Kadiroğlu, ‘Casusluk ve Gizlilik’, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, 10 Dec. 1966.

10 Kemal Üstün, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri’, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, 12 Nov. 1666; Tom Brosnahan, ‘Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea: On the Road with a Travel Writer’ (Travel Info Exchange, 2005).

11 Eric J. Zürcher, Turkey a Modern History. 3rd ed. (New York: I.B.Tauris, 2004).

12 Long Ye and Zhihua Liao, ‘The activities of the peace corps in big cities of China: an exception to American diplomatic philosophy?’, Trans/Form/Ação: Unesp journal of philosophy, Marília, 47, n. 3 (2024), e0240030.

13 Fernando Purcell, ‘Connecting Realities: Peace Corps Volunteers in South America and the Global War on Poverty during the 1960s’, Historia Crítica, 53 (mayo-agosto, 2014), 129–54.

14 Jhon Cotton, Par for the Corps A Review of the Literature on Selection, Training, and Performance of Peace Corps Volunteers, ‘Education Resources Information Center’ (1975).

15 Jasamin Rostam Kolayi, ‘The New Frontier Meets the White Revolution: The Peace Corps in Iran, 1962–76’, Iranian Studies, 51/4, (July 2018), 587-612.

16 Nicholas J. Cull & B. Theo Mazumdar, ‘Propaganda and the Cold War’ in The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War (2014).

17 Jhon B. Whitton, ‘Cold War Propaganda’, American Journal of International Law, 45/1 (2017), 151–53.

18 Lucas Scott, ‘Campaigns of Truth: The Psychological Strategy Board and American Ideology: 1951‑1953’, The International Historical Review, 18/2 (1996), 279–302; Shawn Parry‑Giles, The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda and the Cold War: 1945‑1955 (Wesport, Connecticut, London: Praeger, 2002); Kenneth Osgood, Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2006); Gerald Sussman, ‘Propaganda and the Cold War’, Journalism & Communication Monographs, 23/1 (2021), 70–5.

19 Shawn Parry‑Giles, The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda and the Cold War: 1945‑1955 (Wesport, Connecticut, London: Praeger, 2002).

20 Vadmy Bespeka, ‘Usa Propaganda in Cold War Period: Formation of the Image of Enemy in face of the USSR’, (SKHID No. 6/164, November-December 2019), 44–52.

21 Kenneth Osgood, Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad, (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2006), 344.

22 Craig Allen, Eisenhower and the Mass Media: Peace, Prosperity, and Prime-Time TV (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993); Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, All You Need Is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000).

23 Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht, ‘Shame on US? Academics, Cultural Transfer, and the Cold War: A Critical Review’, Diplomatic History, 24/3 (2000), 465–494; Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, All You Need Is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000); Philip M. Taylor, Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda (Manchester University Press, 2003); Francis Spufford, Red Plenty (London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 2010).

24 Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, All You Need Is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000).

25 Gökhan Eşel, Amerikan Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri, (İstanbul: İleri Yayınları, 2016), 25.

26 Murat Soysal, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri (1962-1972)’, Master Thesis, Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü (2010), 24.

27 Ali Erken, ‘Türkiye’de barış gönüllüleri programına bir bakış: 1961-1970’, Avsarya Etüdleri, 48/2 (2015), 39–63.

28 Kevin McCarron, ‘Job Corps, AmeriCorps, and Peace Corps: An Overview’, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 44/3 (2000), 18–25.

29 David N. Weinman, ‘Peace Corps Turkey, arkadaşlar Our Story from amca bir varmış bir yokmuş’, Peace Corps in Turkey 1962-1970 (2013), 32–5, Accessed 13 Feb. 2021. http://arkadaslar.info/Buralarda/stories2.pdf.

30 Mücahit Gültekin, Türkiye- ABD İlişkilerinin Psikolojisi (İstanbul: Pınar Yayınları, 2017).

31 Müslim Özbalkan, Gizli Belgelerle Barış Gönüllüleri (İstanbul: Ant Yayınları, 1970).

32 Ibid., 202.

33 Gail Guntermann, ‘The Peace Corps Experience: Language Learning in Training and in the Field’, in Barbara F. Freed (ed), , Second Language Acquısıtıon in A Study Abroad Context (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1995), 149–71.

34 Kevin McCarron, ‘Job Corps, AmeriCorps, and Peace Corps: An Overview’, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 44/3 (2000), 18–25.

35 Jonathan Pool, ‘Yabancı Dil Sömürücülüğü’, Yön Magazine, 8 Oct. 1965.

37 Gökhan Eşel, Amerikan Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri (İstanbul: İleri Yayınları, 2016), 54.

38 Mücahit Gültekin, Türkiye- ABD İlişkilerinin Psikolojisi (İstanbul: Pınar Yayınları, 2017), 367.

39 Angene Wilson and Jack Wilson, Vocies from the Peace Corps Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers (The University Press of Kentucky, 2011), 59.

40 John Perkins, Jaguara dokunmak, (İstanbul: April Yayıncılık, 2021), 28.

41 Zafer Parlak, ‘Kendi Anılarında Türkiye’de Bulunan Amerikan Barış Gönüllülerinin Yaşadıkları Değişim Süreci’, Kebikeç İnsan Bilimleri İçin Kaynak Araştırmaları Dergisi 39, (2015), 343–62.

42 Barış Ordusu Anlaşması Dün Ankara’da İmzalandı’, Hürriyet Newspaper, 28 Aug. 1962.

43 Murat Sosyal, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri’, Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Atatürk Yolu Dergisi, 56 (2015), 113–46.

44 Gökhan Eşel, Amerikan Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri (İstanbul: İleri Yayınları, 2016), 92.

45 Mücahit Gültekin, Türkiye- ABD İlişkilerinin Psikolojisi (İstanbul: Pınar Yayınları, 2017), 408.

46 Ahmad Feroz, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye, Çeviren: Ahmet Fethi (İstanbul: Hil Yayınları, 1996), 418.

47 Allan Gall, ‘(1962-1964): Oral history interview’ (2017), JFK Library.

48 Eric Jan Zürcher, Modernleşen Türkiye’nin Tarihi (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2015), 368–69.

49 Hulusi Şentürk, İslamcılık Türkiye’de İslami Oluşumlar ve Siyaset (İstanbul: Çıra Yayınları, 2015), 449–50.

50 Orhan Koloğlu, Osmanlı’dan 21. Yüz Yıla Basın Tarihi (İstanbul: Pozitif Yayınları, 2006), 140.

51 Ahmad Feroz, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye, Çeviren: Ahmet Fethi (İstanbul: Hil Yayınları, 1996), 199.

52 Murat Sosyal, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri’, Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Atatürk Yolu Dergisi, 56 (2015), 130.

53 Cüneyt Arcayürek, Çankaya’ya Giden Yol 1971-1973 (Ankara: Bilgi Yayınları, 1992), 144.

54 Murat Sosyal, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri’, Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Atatürk Yolu Dergisi, 56 (2015), 132.

55 Ibid, 138.

56 Kurtuluş Kayalı, Ordu ve Siyaset: 27 Mayıs-12 Mart (İstanbul: İletişim Yayıncılık, 2000), 144–45.

57 Davut Dursun, Demokrasi Krizlerinde Basın ve Aydınlar (İstanbul: İşaret Yayınları, 2000), 108–10.

58 Niyazi Karasar, Bilimsel Araştırma Yöntemi (İstanbul: Nobel Yayın Dağıtım, 2012), 183.

59 Zina O’Leary, The Essential Guide To Doing Your Research Project (Sage Publications Inc., 2017), 177.

60 A. Labuschagne, ‘Qualitative research: Airy fairy or fundamental?’ The Qualitative Report, 8/1 (2003), 101. Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. (2014). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures For Developing Grounded Theory. G. A. Bowen, ‘Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method’ (2009), 27–28. L. D. Altheide, Tracking Discourse and Qualitative Document Analysis (2000), 291–292.

63 Mücahit Gültekin, Türkiye- ABD ilişkilerinin psikolojisi (İstanbul: Pınar Yayınları: 2017), 373.

64 Millet Meclisi Tutanak Dergisi (1965), Dönem: 1, C. 34, Toplantı: 4, Birleşim: 39. from: https://www.tbmm.gov.tr/tutanaklar/TUTANAK/MM__/d01/c034/mm__01034039.pdf (accessed Mar. 9, 2021), 662.

65 Oktay Akbaş, ‘Amerikan gönüllü kuruluşları: barış gönüllülerinin dünyada ve Türkiye’deki çalışmaları’, Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 4/1 (2006), 85–99, 92.

66 Müslim Özbalkan, Gizli belgelerle barış gönüllüleri (İstanbul: Ant Yayınları, 1970), 162.

67 Osman K. Akol, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri mi Savaş Gönüllüleri mi?’, Yön Magazine, 5 June 1966.

68 Cavit O. Tütengil, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri Çıkmazı’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 16 Sep. 1965.

69 Refet Ural, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri ve Gerçek’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 28 Sep. 1965.

70 İhsan Mersinoğlu, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri Hakkında’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 25 July 1966.

71 Ahmet İnal, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri Faydalıdır’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 30 July 1966.

72 Sıtkı Ulay, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 4 Nov. 1966.

73 The Nur movement is a religious movement shaped around the Risale-i Nur Collection, which consists of the books written by Said Nursi, a religious man who lived between 1878-1960. Abdullah Yargı, ‘Nurculuk Hareketi İçerisindeki Vakıf Bireylerin Vakıflıktan Ayrılmasındaki Toplumsal Etkenler’, Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 49 (2020), 567–92.

74 Kemal Üstün, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 12 Nov. 1666.

75 Kenan Esengin, ‘Bir Çağrı’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 15 July, 1966.

76 Ecvet Güresin ‘Gönüllüler’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 19 Dec. 1966.

77 Metin Sarıbaş, ‘Yine Barış Gönüllüleri’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 19 Dec. 1966.

78 Mustafa Yorulmaz, ‘Barış Evet Gönüllüsü Hayır’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 19 Dec. 1966.

79 Sezai Orkunt, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 2 Oct. 1968.

80 Erol Gürakar and Ali Peker, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri’, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 20 Sep 1965.

81 Hilmi Özgen, ‘İmece Köy İşletmeleri’, Milliyet Newspaper, 15 Apr. 1965.

82 Tom Brosnahan, ‘Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea: On the Road with a Travel Writer’ (Travel Info Exchange, 2005).

83 Mücahit Gültekin, Türkiye- ABD İlişkilerinin Psikolojisi (İstanbul: Pınar Yayınları, 2017), 385.

84 Gökhan Eşel, Amerikan Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türkiye’deki Faaliyetleri (İstanbul: İleri Yayınları, 2016, 164.

85 ‘Köy Enstitüleri Yerine Barış Gönüllüleri’, Yön Magazine, No: 16129, Apr. 1966.

86 Sıtkı Ulay, ‘Barış Gönüllülerinin Telsiz Cihazları Taşıdığı İddia Ediliyor’, Milliyet Newspaper, 2 Oct. 1996.

87 ‘CHP’li Uysal ‘Barış Gönüllüleri’ İşini Meclise Getirdi’, Milliyet Newspaper, 24 Nov. 1969.

88 ‘Amerikan Ajanları’, Dönüşüm Magazine, 1 Jan. 1967.

89 ‘Türkiye’nin Köylerine Dağılan Amerikan Ajanlarını Açıklıyoruz’, Dönüşüm Magazine, 15 Dec. 1966.

90 Jale Candan, ‘Çağımızın Misyonerleri’, Akis Magazine, 24 Dec. 1966.

91 Orhan Türel, ‘Türk aydını, barış gönüllülerini tasfiye etti’, Milliyet Newspaper, 25 Dec. 1969.

92 ‘Genel Kurmay Barış Gönüllüsü İstemiyor’, Milliyet Newspaper, 10 Nov. 1969.

93 ‘Türkiye ‘Barış Gönüllü sayısı azaltılacak’ ABD ‘Azalmayacak’, Milliyet Newspaper, 18 Dec., 1996.

94 ‘ABD’li Barış Gönüllüleri Geri Alınıyor’, Milliyet Newspaper, 21 Mar., 1970.

95 Adil Kurtel, ‘Devlet Teşkilatımızdaki Amerikan Ajanları’, Yön Magazine,172, 15 July, 1966.

96 Numan Kartal, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri ve Türk Köylüleri’, Yön Magazine, 175, 5 July, 1966.

97 ‘Barış Gönüllülerini Yetiştiren Türk’leri Açıklıyoruz’, Ant Magazine, 149, 4 Nov. 1969.

98 Faruk Loğoğlu, ‘Barış Gönüllüleri Neyin Nesidir?’, Ant Magazine, 154, 9 Dec. 1969.

99 Peggy Gall Hanson, ‘Peace Corps Turkey, arkadaşlar Our Story from amca bir varmış bir yokmuş’, Peace Corps in Turkey 1962–1970, 36 (2013), from: http://arkadaslar.info/Buralarda/stories2.pdf (accessed 13 Mar. 2021).

100 David N. Weinman, ‘Peace Corps Turkey, Arkadaşlar Our Story from Amca Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş’, Peace Corps in Turkey 1962–1970 (2013), 32–35, from: http://arkadaslar.info/Buralarda/stories2.pdf (accessed 13 Mar. 2021).

101 Uğur Mumcu, Çağın suçu, 2nd ed. (Ankara: Uğur Mumcu Araştırmacı Gazetecilik Vakfı, 1999), 40–41.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abdulkadir Gölcü

Abdulkadir Gölcü has been working as an academician at the Journalism Department of Communication Faculty. Gölcü conducts various academic studies on journalism practices, news production and discourse studies. He attended many national and international trainings focusing on journalism studies and news editorship. He provides various trainings to journalism professional organisations on news editing, new generation journalism practices and new approaches to news.

Elif Kaya Güler

Elif Kaya Güler is working as a research assistant at Selçuk University, Faculty of Communication. She has a master’s degree in journalism and is continuing doctorate in the same field. Her fields of study include digital communication, digital journalism, media and digital literacy, and political communication.

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