Turkish Foreign Policy

Turkey is now one of the major economies in the Middle East region but it was not always like this, the growth could be attributed to the countries enabling the foreign policy. The country Turkey came into existence after the breaking up of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s and Turkey became a sovereign state on October 29, 1923, under Mustafa Kemal, who became the countrys first president (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2016). The next 15years under Mustafa Kemal leadership Turkish foreign policy followed his personality. According to Mustafa Kemal Turkish, foreign policy was aimed at seeking recognition as a peaceful sovereign state. The first Turkish president builds the foreign policy on the philosophy that peace begins at home and then to the rest of the world. The Turkish foreign policy at the time also seeks to foster good relations with the West where Turkey looked to find solutions to its problems. The National Pact of 1920, which was aimed at creating the Turkish nation, governed foreign policy for the first few years. The philosophy of peace at home, peace in the world continued to reflect in Turkish foreign policy and lead to the establishment of the Balkan Entente of 1934 and three years later the Said bad act of 1937.

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Although Turkey was more inclined to the west, the country needed to make a pact with a super power to accomplish its foreign policy objectives. During the mid-1920s, the only super powers in existence were the USA and Russia, which was then known as the USSR or the Soviet Union, and the USSR was the only superpower that had an interest in maintaining a good foreign policy with Turkey. Consequently, Turkey and the Soviet Union signed a security pact on 17th December 1925, a Treaty of Non-Aggression and security.

The Soviet Union went ahead to sign a commerce agreement with Turkey on 11th March of 1927, the relationship between the two countries however was still icy and there was friction between the countries. Turkey later on in 1928, August 27, went on to sign an international peace treaty, Kellogg-Briand pact. As trade between the Soviet Union and Turkey improved in the early 1930s, the USSR introduced credit and other business facilitations when Turkey bought machinery from the Soviet Union. After 1936, the relation between the countries declined as USSR accused Turkey of leaning towards a closer relationship with the West. After 1932, Turkey experienced significant success in the international foreign policy scene. In 1932, Turkey joined the League of Nations, which in itself was a great achievement for Turkeys foreign policy (Aydin, 2016). Though Turkey had signed pacts separately with other Balkan states, Turkey aimed its foreign policy to the creation of a league of Balkan nations. In February of 1934 the Balkan countries, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Greece and Romania signed a security treaty known as the Balkan Entente though Bulgaria and Albania refused to sign the pact.

Turkey became weary of Italy in 1935 after the country attacked Ethiopia and set out to sign a treaty that would protect the Balkan states from Italian imperialism though Britain was against the move at first. In 1936, however Britain agreed to Turkeys requests and signed the Mediterranean pact, which also included Turkey Yugoslavia and Greece. Turkish foreign policy has archived many milestones since the countrys independence, but the milestone considered the most remarkable was the non-participation of Turkey in the Second World War.

References

Aydin, M. (2016). Determinants of Turkish Foreign Policy and Turkey's European Vocation. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/468881/Determinants_of_Turkish_Foreign_Policy_and_Turkeys_European_Vocation [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016].

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2016). From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [online] Available at: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkish-foreign-policy-during-ataturks-era.en.mfa [Accessed 30 Mar. 2016].