The effect of the Cold War on the Turkish press: The example of Hürriyet newspaper analysis of front page news between 1950-1954

World War II was followed by a new era in world politics. The way of governing in Turkey by one-party alone up until the ending of World War II was replaced in 1946 with an administrative system which began to host several parties. World War II resulted in the division of the world into two poles. The United States of America became the leader of the Western bloc, whereas the Soviet Union became the leader of the Eastern bloc. The fact that Turkey has been part of the Western bloc has led to the tightening of the ties between Turkey and the USA. Turkey set up its foreign policy for the most part in accord with the USA up until the mid-90s. This provoked reaction from the Soviet Union. Claiming that the Soviet Union sought to establish communism in Turkey just as it did previously in the Eastern Europe, the USA gave Turkey military and economic protection. In the meantime, the USA made frequent use of its well-known propaganda against "the threat of communism." In this study, an interdisciplinary method has been applied to the browsing of the sources which study the effects of the Cold War on the Turkish press. The first years of the daily Hurriyet correspond to the first years of the Cold War. This study involves a content analysis as well as a critical discourse analysis of the front-page news reports which appeared at Hurriyet between 1 January 1950 and 2 May 1954. During this period, the Democratic Party gained more power and an American perspective made itself visible in both domestic and foreign policies of Turkey. This study concludes that the front-page news reports that appeared at Hurriyet at that period resonates the American perspectives on economics, ideology, and culture. Likewise, the same news reports show that Hurriyet took a critical attitude towards the Soviet Union and Russia while it saw America as a close ally.