Developing Turkey

As Europe and North America are losing their position as the world's leaders, while Asian countries are developing rapidly, Turkey continues to revise its traditional policy and tries to become an influential country playing an important role in global and regional affairs.

Turkey is now at the center of public attention all over the world. In this article the changes that Turkey has undergone during the last 80 years are discussed.

One party system

Turkish modernization started during the Ottoman era. It was the country's response to the West's undoubted leadership in all spheres. In those days modernization was actually westernization. The country's authorites paid special attention to industrialization as well.

The military elite and bureaucracy tried to improve the population's education and form a 'modern' society based on 'modern values'. Citizens remained passive spectators of these events.

The republic's authorities were trying to win the elite's confidence. They wished that the elite, the military and the population were all its allies. Educated people were the regime's main supporters. The ruling Republican People's Party had no certain ideology, it was simply associated with the reforms and the social changes. The party promoted secularism as the republic's major value.

The republic's foreign policy was based on the principal of neutrality. Having no power to insist on its demands, the republic preferred to abstain from playing an important role in international relations. It preferred to apply to international courts and resolve conflicts with the help of talks. The policy of neutrality soon become ineffective, as the world was preparing for war.

Turkey signed several agreements with both Nazi Germany and the allies, but didn't agree to take part in the war. It is often said that its neutral policy saved the country from 'liberation' by Soviet forces, that would have brought communism to the country, making it a USSR satellite.

After Kemal Ataturk died, president Inenu assumed power and decided that Turkey should enter the Western coalition. In order to show Turkey's goodwill, the country adopted a democratic system. Democratization didn't take long. At the first elections the opposition received parliamentary mandates which led to liberal reforms. The changes allowed the country to integrate into the Euro-Atlantic space. In 1949 Turkey became a member of the Council of Europe.

It was much harder to enter the North Atlantic Alliance. The United States was at first sceptical about the idea itself, but soon US officials understood that Ankara could play a positive role in the alliance's struggle against the Soviet Union.

Ilter Turan, Professor of Istanbul University. Russia in Global Affairs.