Türkiye-Italy relations under Atatürk within the context of security strategies

This thesis analyses Turkish-Italian relations during Atatürk era in the context of security studies. The study aims to fill the gap in security studies on Turkish foreign policy towards Italy. The research investigates the issues of whether there were threats for Türkiye and the region posed by Italy, which had rule over the Dodecanese Islands; if there were, to what extent those threats were; how the rulers of the republic formulated security strategies towards such threats in the political-military sense; and what was, in the light of those threats, the security strategy of Turkish foreign policy, during the period between declaration of the Republic of Türkiye and death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. At the same time, it examines the question of which names and institutions within the government stood out against the Italian threat. For this study, books and scientific articles about the topic have been derived from Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Archives, the Republic Archives, the Turkish Diplomatic Archive, and the Military History Archives of the Ministry of National Defense. As qualitative research methods, literate review and document analysis methods have been used in this study. The study shows that there has been a threat for the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts of Türkiye via the Dodecanese Islands; the relations between 1923-1928 have been formulated on the basis mutual mistrust; The Treaty of Neutrality, Conciliation, and Judicial Settlement has been a milestone in the relations. The affairs during 1928-1934 have been relatively favorable, Mussolini's 1934 statement that Italy's future lies on Asia and Africa have significantly bothered Türkiye, and the relations have been tied up again. Türkiye cooperated with anti-revisionist states in the Balkans against the Italian threat and lead the establishment of the Balkan Entente.