Turkish-American relations according to newspaper news and cartoons (1947-1952)

During the Second World War, Turkey followed the politics of balance and entered into various alliances to stay out of the war. Turkey's delicate politics towards neutrality led to cautious statements from political leaders of the time and increased pressure on newspapers. The restiction imposed on the press during the Second World War was replaced by the freedom of the press with the multi-party life. The atmosphere of freedom, which started with the amendment made in the press law in 1946, continued in the first years of the DP, which came to power in May 1950. In this period, the different views of the government and the opposition in the field of domestic politics were also reflected in newspapers and cartoons, but this situation did not last long; the public and some writers reactions to the DP as a result of the worsening of the economy, reactionary movements and the increase in corruption caused the ruling party to take measures to restrict the press since 1954. The emancipation of the press, which was provided for a certain period of time in domestic politics, has not been very effective in the field of foreign policy. The reason for this is that cooperation with America, which has become the protector of the West after the increasing Soviet threat in the post-war period, is the main foreign policy goal of both parties. The emphasis on Turkish-American friendship in newspapers and cartoons, which started after the post-war Missouri Battleship visit to Turkey, increased with the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, and the positive American image was tried to be reflected by the newspapers to the public in order to provide the Turkish-American cooperation aimed at ensuring Turkey's security. The period when Turkish newspapers made criticism against the government's goals in foreign policy started with the rejection of Turkey's application to NATO. The most emphasized point in the criticism was that although Italy was not an Atlantic country, it was included in the pact but Turkey was not. In this period, the inadequacy of the militay aid which was sent by America to Turkey was also emphasized by some journalists.