The effect of Turkish foreign policy on Turkish Navy after the World War II

The aim of this study is to examine how the changes and developments in Turkish foreign policy after the World War II has affected Turkish Navy. While World War II was going on, demands of Soviet Union for straits, Kars, Ardahan and Artvin caused security concerns in Turkey. With the end of the World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, Turkey was insecure against the pressure of Soviet Union which is neighbor of its and wanted to get the support of the United States which became as a superpower from war. The United States proclaimed the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan and declared openly that behind Turkey, as a result of the US' interest in the region and the competitive environment of the Cold War. With this doctrine published in 1947, while Turkey was using foreign policy preferences to the West block, this preference has had some reflections on the armed forces in general on the Turkish Navy in particular. With the Truman Doctrine, while military experts sent by the United States were making some administrative, technical and educational changes in the Turkish Navy, along with the military aid, it was observed that the products of American origin replaced European products in the composition of military vehicles and equipment in the navy inventory. Increasing American influence in the Navy with the Truman Doctrine was accentuated with Turkey's NATO membership, while Turkish Navy was increasing its capacity with these developments, on the other hand after the increase of military aid, it was observed that the dependence of the navy on the outside increased. Turkish foreign policy was affected by events constituted a breaking point like the Cyprus problem, Johnson's Letter crisis, the Cyprus Peace Operation, the American embargo and the collapse of the Soviet Union, in some ways this influence has also affected the Turkish Navy. In this study, it was tried to examine how the breaks in Turkish foreign policy after World War II, affected Turkish Navy. Keywords: the Soviet Union, the USA, Truman Doctrine, Navy, Cyprus