The end of a myth? Turkish-American relations during the National Unity Committee Governments (1960–1961)

ABSTRACT

The Democrat Party’s (DP) decade-long period in office ended with a military intervention on 27 May 1960. In the coup declaration, the National Unity Committee (NUC) announced that Turkey would remain loyal to its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) alliances as well as Turkey’s other international commitments. Turkey’s economic and military dependence on the USA (United States of America) also remained unchanged, contrary to the expectations of the Kemalists, leftists, and anti-DP circles who had mythicized the NUC’s role in Turkey’s independence from the USA. This study examines primary sources such as US archival records and the records of the Turkey’s constituent assembly and provisional government. It analyses the diplomatic relations between Turkey and the USA during this period and shows how Turkey’s dependence on the USA continued through economic and military assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ William Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military (London: Routledge, 1993), 119–31. See also Feroz Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980 (İstanbul: Hil Yayınları, 1996), 207–12; Erik Jan Zürcher, Modernleşen Türkiye’nin Tarihi (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2023), 279–80; Suavi Aydın and Yüksel Taşkın, 1960’tan Günümüze Türkiye Tarihi (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2015), 65–9.

² Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980, 212–27. See also Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military, 131–6; Zürcher, Modernleşen Türkiye’nin Tarihi, 280–1; Aydın and Taşkın, 1960’tan Günümüze Türkiye Tarihi, 77–9.

³ Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980, 217–9; Zürcher, Modernleşen Türkiye’nin Tarihi, 282.

⁴ Cemil Koçak, 27 Mayıs Bakanlar Kurulu Tutanakları v.1 (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2010), 87–112.

⁵ For details and the role of Selim Sarper during this period see Cüneyt Akalın, ‘Tarihin Dönemecinde Bir. ’Diplomat: Selim Sarper’, Mülkiye Dergisi 29, no. 249 (2005): 57–60.

⁶ Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military, 136–8. See also Aydın and Taşkın, 1960’tan Günümüze Türkiye Tarihi, 80–1.

⁷ Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military, 138–47. See also Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980, 222; Zürcher, Modernleşen Türkiye’nin Tarihi, 282–5; Aydın and Taşkın, 1960’tan Günümüze Türkiye Tarihi, 99.

⁸ George McGhee, ABD-Türkiye-NATO-Ortadoğu (Ankara: Bilgi Yayınaevi, 1992), 30. See also George S. Harris, Troubled Alliance: Turkish-American Problems in Historical Perspective 1945–1971 (Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1972), 25.

⁹ McGhee, ABD-Türkiye-NATO-Ortadoğu, 31. See also Oral Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964 (Ankara: İmge Kitabevi, 2016), 37–40.

¹⁰ Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/truman-doctrine

¹¹ Harris, Troubled Alliance, 31–2.

¹² Murat Kasapsaraçoğlu, ‘Harmonization of Turkey’s Political, Economic and Military Interests in the 1950s: Reflections on Turkey’s Middle East Policy’, Turkish Studies 16, no. 3 (2015): 344.

¹³ Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1951, The Near East and Africa, v. V. Agreed. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Conference of Middle Eastern Chiefs of Mission, Istanbul, February 14–21, 1951.

¹⁴ Gülten Kazgan, Tanzimattan 21. Yüzyıla Türkiye Ekonomisi (İstanbul: Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2021), 64.

¹⁵ Kazgan, Tanzimattan 21. Yüzyıla Türkiye Ekonomisi, 65. See also Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964, 40–4.

¹⁶ Korkut Boratav, Türkiye İktisat Tarihi 1908–2015, (Ankara: İmge Kitabevi, 2023), 106–7. See also Kazgan, Tanzimattan 21. Yüzyıla Türkiye Ekonomisi, 67; Sami Güven, 1950’li Yıllarda Türkiye Ekonomisi Üzerine Kalkınma Reçeteleri, (Bursa: Ezgi Kitabevi, 1998).

¹⁷ Boratav, Türkiye İktisat Tarihi 1908–2015, 108. See also Oktay Yenal, Cumhuriyet’in İktisat Tarihi (İstanbul: Homer Kitabevi, 2003), 75.

¹⁸ Şevket Pamuk, Türkiye’nin 200 Yıllık İktisadi Tarihi (İstanbul: İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2022), 227–9. See also Yenal, Cumhuriyet’in İktisat Tarihi, 78–9.

¹⁹ Boratav, Türkiye İktisat Tarihi 1908–2015, 109–10. See also Kazgan, Tanzimattan 21. Yüzyıla Türkiye Ekonomisi, 68–9.

²⁰ Boratav, Türkiye İktisat Tarihi 1908–2015, 112.

²¹ Yenal, Cumhuriyet’in İktisat Tarihi, 82.

²² Boratav, Türkiye İktisat Tarihi 1908–2015, 121–3. See also Kazgan, Tanzimattan 21. Yüzyıla Türkiye Ekonomisi, 73–4; Pamuk, Türkiye’nin 200 Yıllık İktisadi Tarihi, 232–3; Yenal, Cumhuriyet’in İktisat Tarihi, 82–4.

²³ Kazgan, Tanzimattan 21. Yüzyıla Türkiye Ekonomisi, 65. See also McGhee, ABD-Türkiye-NATO. Ortadoğu, 57–8.

²⁴ McGhee, ABD-Türkiye-NATO-Ortadoğu, 163–5; Harris, The Troubled Alliance, 52–3. See also William Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy since 1774 (London: Routledge, 2013), 89–90.

²⁵ Harris, Troubled Alliance, 54–55. See also Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964, 147–59.

²⁶ Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964, 245–52. For more details about the deployment and the impact of Jupiter missiles in Turkey see Nur Bilge Criss, ‘Strategic Nuclear Missiles in Turkey: The Jupiter Affair 1959–1963’, The Journal of Strategic Studies 20, no. 3 (1997): 95–122; Barnton J. Bernstein, ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis: Trading the Jupiters in Turkey?’ Political Science Quarterly 95, no. 1 (1980): 97–125.

²⁷ For details of the agreement signed on March 5, 1959 see Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964, 232–9.

²⁸ Çağrı Erhan, ‘ABD ve NATO’yla İlişkiler’, in Türk Dış Politikası v. 1, ed. Baskın Oran (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2006), 681. See also Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980, 512; Aydın and Taşkın, 1960’tan Günümüze Türkiye Tarihi, 62; Koçak, 27 Mayıs Bakanlar Kurulu Tutanakları v. 1, 97–8.

²⁹ Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980, 512.

³⁰ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2, Editorial Note.

³¹ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Letter from President Eisenhower to President Gürsel. June 11, 1960. See also Harris, Troubled Alliance, 86–7.

³² Gülşah Köprülü, ‘Cemal Gürsel Dönemi Türk Dış Politikasının Dinamikleri’, Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Akademik İzdüşüm Dergisi 3, no. 3 (2018): 44.

³³ Şaban Çalış, Turkey’s Cold War: Foreign Policy and Western Alignment in the Modern Republic (London: IB Tauris, 2017), 148–9.

³⁴ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Letter from the Ambassador to Turkey (Warren) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Jones). August 11, 1960.

³⁵ Ibid.

³⁶ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Conversation. September 21, 1960.

³⁷ The National Archives (TNA). Foreign Office. FO 371. 160212. See also Süleyman Seydi, ‘Turkish. American Relations and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1957–63’, Middle Eastern Studies 46, no. 3 (2010): 435–7; Mürsel Bayram, ‘Soğuk Savaş Dönemi Türk-Amerikan İlişkilerinin Sürekliliğinde Askeri Darbelerin Rolü’, Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 2, no. 1 (2015): 35–6.

³⁸ Koçak, 27 Mayıs Bakanlar Kurulu Tutanakları v. 1, 409–11.

³⁹ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Letter from the Ambassador to Turkey (Warren) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Jones). August 11, 1960.

⁴⁰ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Conversation. September 21, 1960.

⁴¹ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Embassy in

Turkey to the Department of State. February 5, 1961.

⁴² FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Conversation. September 21, 1960.

⁴³ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. April 4, 1961; see also FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. August 7, 1961.

⁴⁴ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. September 15, 1961.

⁴⁵ Republic of Turkey, Records of the Constituent Assembly, February 22, 1961, 190–1.

⁴⁶ Ibid, 193–4.

⁴⁷ Republic of Turkey, Records of the Constituent Assembly, February 22, 1961, 195.

⁴⁸ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. May 28, 1960.

⁴⁹ Koçak, 27 Mayıs Bakanlar Kurulu Tutanakları v.1, 176–7.

⁵⁰ Ibid, 188.

⁵¹ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Discussion at the 449^th Meeting of the National Security Council, June 30, 1960.

⁵² Koçak, 27 Mayıs Bakanlar Kurulu Tutanakları v.1, 266.

⁵³ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Special National Intelligence Estimate. July 19, 1960.

⁵⁴ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Letter from the Ambassador to Turkey (Warren) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Jones).August 11, 1960.

⁵⁵ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Conversation. September 21, 1960.

⁵⁶ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. National Security Council Report. October 5, 1960.

⁵⁷ Ibid.

⁵⁸ Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964, 275.

⁵⁹ Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military, 124.

⁶⁰ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. July 13, 1960.

⁶¹ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. July 25, 1960.

⁶² FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Conversation. August 2, 1960. See also Harris, Troubled Alliance, 89–90.

⁶³ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Telegram from the Department of State to the Embassy in Turkey. August 4, 1960.

⁶⁴ Metin Toker, Demokrasimizin İsmet Paşalı Yılları: Yarı Silahlı, Yarı Külahlı Bir Ara Rejim 1960–1961 (Ankara: Bilgi Yayınaevi, 1990), 126–7.

⁶⁵ Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military, 124–5; Aydın and Taşkın, 1960’tan Günümüze Türkiye Tarihi, 74; Zürcher, Modernleşen Türkiye’nin Tarihi, 281.

⁶⁶ FRUS, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, v. X, p. 2. Memorandum of Conversation. September 21, 1960.

⁶⁷ Ibid.

⁶⁸ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Letter From the charge in Turkey (Cowles) to the Deputy Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council (Thurston). January 10,1961.

⁶⁹ Bayram, Soğuk Savaş Dönemi Türk-Amerikan İlişkilerinin Sürekliliğinde Askeri Darbelerin Rolü, 35–6.

⁷⁰ Sander, Türk-Amerikan İlişkileri 1947–1964, 275.

⁷¹ Ahmad, Demokrasi Sürecinde Türkiye 1945–1980, 514–5; Behçet Kemal Yeşilbursa, ‘The ‘Revolution’ of 27 May 1960 in Turkey: British Policy towards Turkey’, Middle Eastern Studies 41, no. 1 (2005): 131;Koçak, 27 Mayıs Bakanlar Kurulu Tutanakları v. 1, 70.

⁷² FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Embassy in Turkey to the Department of State. February 5, 1961.

⁷³ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. National Security Action Memorandum No. 35. April 6, 1961.

⁷⁴ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom. April 20, 1961.

⁷⁵ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (Norstad) to Secretary of Defense McNamara. April 25, 1961.

⁷⁶ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Telegram from the Embassy in France to the Department of State. May 14, 1961.

⁷⁷ Ibid.

⁷⁸ Ibid.

⁷⁹ Seydi, Turkish-American Relations and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1957–63, 435–7.

⁸⁰ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey. Memorandum of Conversation. June 13, 1961.

⁸¹ FRUS, 1961–1963, v. XVI, Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. Memorandum From the Counsellor of the Department of State and Chairman of the Policy Planning Council (McGhee) to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy). June 22, 1961.