The search for economic and military aid in the shadow of crises: Turkish-American relations during İnönü governments (1961–1965)

Abstract

The leader of Republican People’s Party (RPP), İsmet İnönü, formed three governments between 1961 and 1965. Turkey faced several political, economic, social and military challenges in this period. Turkish foreign policy also witnessed problems such as the crises that erupted in Cuba and Cyprus in 1962 and 1963, respectively. Both the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cyprus Crisis had serious effects on Turkish–American political relations, so a great deal of literature exists discussing these developments. At the same time, Turkey negotiated with the United States of America (USA) to obtain more economic and military aid, which has drawn less scholarly attention. This article aims to shed light on the negotiations between Turkey and the USA to show how Turkish decision-makers worked hard to obtain more economic and military aid from the USA in the shadow of these crises. This article argues that these crises did not negatively influence economic and military relations between the countries due to Turkey’s economic and military dependence on and strategic importance for the USA against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from the beginning of the Cold War.