Turkey’s National Security Perceptions in the Early Republican Period

Abstract

This study seeks answers to the questions of what the national security environment of Turkey looked like in the early years of the Republic and what the main threat perceptions were. Since the Republic was declared after a war of national independence, Turkey pursued a foreign policy aimed at securing its independence and sovereign rights and tried to consolidate the newly established regime. Security perceptions shaped in this framework played an important role in determining Turkey’s national security policies in the following years. The experience of the War of Independence is one of the most important sources of Turkey’s sensitivity to its full independence and sovereignty rights. The construction of a new political regime and national state with the proclamation of the Republic shaped the perceptions of threats to the security of the regime. The tensions in the European great power politics in the interwar period are one of the important developments that reveal Turkey’s pro-status quo and defensive security understanding. In this context, it is argued that it is important to evaluate Turkey’s historical experience in the early years of the Republic in terms of understanding today’s national security policies.