Back to the past: The origins of Turkish American relations from an alternative perspective

Abstract

Turkish-American relations have been an important component of Turkey‟s foreign policy for a very long time. Starting from the beginning of the Cold War, the US has become an inseparable part of Turkish diplomacy. Although the bipolar configuration of world politics came to an end 25 years ago, this alliance still keeps its importance for both sides. Nevertheless, the existence of divergences is an undeniable fact. This article investigates retrospectively the sources of the divergences in Turkish-American relations from an alternative perspective. The perspective used in this study gives a special place to the identities summarized as Turkish communitarianism on the one hand and American cosmopolitanism on the other, to the morality provided by these identities conceptualized as pluralist/ solidarist distinction, and to the behaviors they lead to. It also considers the changing ideational structures of the international society through decades. This article aims to fulfil the gap that was revealed by those who worked both on the Social Constructivism and the English School of International Relations, by mapping Turkish-American relations through a normative framework and by providing specific examples related to that from the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the Cold War and the post-Cold War period