The American Geopolitical Interests and Turkey on the Eve of the September 12, 1980 Coup

Okur M. A.

CTAD-CUMHURIYET TARIHI ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI, cilt.11, sa.21, ss.199-222, 2015 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 11 Sayı: 21
  • Basım Tarihi: 2015
  • Dergi Adı: CTAD-CUMHURIYET TARIHI ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.199-222
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: September 12, 1980 Coup in Turkey, Turkish-American Relations, Middle East, Cold War, Iranian Revolution
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Since the 1980's one of the key questions which has been repeatedly asked about the September 12, 1980 coup in Turkey is the nature of the relation of Carter administration to the military takeover in Turkey. The focus of the questions about the major motives of Washington's support for the Coup is over the geopolitical concerns of the time. U.S.' demands from Turkey to allow the reintegration of Greece to NATO's military wing and the changes in the balance of power in the Middle East following two significant developments, namely the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which have been widely debated through the literature. In this article, it is shown that those issues which were part of the historical conjuncture in which September 12, 1980 coup occurred were among the top priorities of the White House and the American policy makers who had looked to Turkey as one of the essential players to solve the emerging geopolitical puzzle, by relying on the government documents of the time.