Middle east crisis and Turkey (1950-1958)

The Second World war, drag the strong forces in Europe into economicdebris. England; the most important military force in the Middle East; tried, becauseof the debris brought by the war, to afford its military expenses and at the same timetried to keep its military and political presence alive. England first decided to pullback from some of their colonies ( India, Burma, Sri Lanka) and later declared thatthey can?t support countries like Greece and Turkey, they supported economicallybefore, no more and they requested that the USA should take this duty. After theSecond World War, the USA and England understood quickly, that they shouldfollow a more active politic to protect the Middle East, which was one of USSR?swidening areas, and to prevent that communism would be spread in this area.The action took by the USA and England, to protect the Middle East againstthe USSR, was one of the main reasons for he crisis between 1950-1958 thathappend in the Middle East. Because Turkey had close relations with the easternstates, they become a side in those crisis.The first project England attempted in order to continue their political andmilitary presence, was the Middle East Command. Turkey, as they promised whenthey joined the NATO, became a supporter of England. However Egypt, which wasthe country that should be the base of command, denied this offer and this Projectnever came alive. This refuse of Egypt, showed England that an alliance of middleeastern states with western states was not easy. Therefore, they tried to approach thearab states, with a project, whose political identity was in the center point. The newProject, which was Defending Middle East Organization, also failed. After theEisenhower government came to power in the USA, they started to play a moreactive role in the Middle East. The planning of The Northern Tier Defence Project,developed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USA, Dulles, and The Turkey-Pakistan Agreement, which was done to bring this Project alive, build the base of theBaghdad Pact.The Baghdad Pact, from the day it was grounded, met the objection of theUSSR and the local countries. Because Turkey followed an active politic in thefounding and progressing of the Baghdad Pact, they went into a time where theirrealtions with the countries who were against the Baghdad Pact, were stressed.Along the following crisis; 1956, Suez Crisis, 1957 Syria Crisis, 1958 IraqRevolution and the crisis at the same year that resulted in the military landingoperation of the USA and England into Lebanon and Jordan; Turkey?s politics, wasunder the influence of the close realtions with the western states that were build withthe Baghdad Pact. Along those crisis, Turkey followed a politic, that used activediplomacy and sometimes military force, which would affect the realtions withmiddle eastern states negatively for years.This thesis, consists of 7 parts, except the inlet and conclusion parts. The firstpart, deals with the The Defence of The Middle East Project of England between theyears 1950-1953. The second part talks about the Northern Tier developed by theUSA. The third part deals with the founding, developing and the results of theBaghdad Pact. In the fourth part examines, the Suez Crisis and the politics followedby Turkey during this crisis. The fifth part deals with the crisis caused by the tensionbetween Syria and Turkey in 1957. The sixth part examines the Iraq Revolution. Theseventh part deals with Lebanon and Jordan crisis, caused by the military landingoperation of the USA and England into Jordan and Lebanon.Key Words: Turkey, USA, Britain, Iraq, Egypt , Syria, Lebanon, JordanMiddle East, Baghdad Pact.