Turkey America S Forgotten Ally

This book draws attention to the role of Turkey as a commercial bridge between the West and the Middle East.

This book argues that that the relationship between US military presence in foreign countries and the non-US citizens under its security umbrella is inherently contradictory.

Since the establishment in 1945 of a constitutional democracy, political parties have figured prominently in Turkish politics. This book, first published in 1991, examines the role they have played. Key features of the political culture of the Turkish republic have created dilemmas for multi-party democracy: Atatürkism still exerts a powerful influence on the country’s bureaucratic and military elites. With their notion of ‘responsible leadership’ and of democracy as rational intellectual debate in pursuit of the ‘best’ policy, they have expected an unrealistic degree of idealism and statesmanlike behaviour from the leaders of political parties. Three times, in 1960, 1971 and 1980, the military has intervened in politics – on the third occasion to undertake wholesale constitutional and legal restructuring aimed at producing ‘sensible’ politicians. Given these ambiguous circumstances, what role have the political parties themselves played in the promotion and functioning of democracy in Turkey, and what are their attitudes to the issues involved? This collection of essays discusses political parties since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 until the 1990s. With contributions from leading political scientists and historians of modern Turkey, it is indispensable reading for all those concerned with the country.

The Forgotten Ally is a beautifully written book, as the New York Times review describes it—The expression of one of the most passionately generous hearts in the writing profession. Van Paassen writes with the power and fervor of a latter-day prophet, without forgetting the need for facts, figures and documentation.—Review of Chicago Sun Times. Shortly after World War One, Van Paassen started his career as a journalist at The Globe, a Canadian newspaper in Toronto. His next job as a journalist was at the great southern liberal newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution. This is where Van Paassen actively became interested in Jewish affairs after interviewing a Rabbi from New York who had just returned from Mandatory Palestine. From this point on, Van Paassen took a great personal interest in the issues of Palestine and the plight of European Jewry. In 1925, he became the foreign correspondent for the New York Evening World, which placed him in Paris. The stage was being set for World War Two and the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy from which Van Paassen passionately reported. In 1931, the New York Evening World stopped publishing; Van Paassen remained in France and wrote for the Globe and its competitor the Toronto Star. In 1933, Van Paassen, a fluent German speaker, reported on the Nazis and courageously exposed the doctrines and policies of Hitler's fascist regime. His news reports greatly upset the Nazis, and the Toronto Star became known as "atrocity propaganda." The newspaper was banned from Germany and Van Paassen was expelled but not before he was imprisoned by the Nazis for several weeks, which included some physical blows to Van Paassen's own person. Van Paassen spent quite some time in Palestine and wrote extensively for his newspapers and wrote many books on the subject.-Print ed.

This book analyses the internal sources of foreign policy within those NATO states whose primary security concerns lie in the southern area of the Alliance. It takes a careful look at foreign and defence policy formulation and assesses the special perspective of each of these countries inturn and the military threats that they face. Attention is paid to the role of the military in society, especially in the geographically peripheral states, as the Alliance seeks to adapt to a possible shift southward of some of its security concerns. A full understanding of the politics in each of these states is essential to determine the relative importance of national and Alliance priorities in each country as the tensions between external policies and internal necessities increase. The book offers an assessment of evolving security requirements in the southern region and of the capacity of NATO Mediterranean states to deal individually and collectively with the changing situation.

From the John Holmes Library collection.

Turkey's involvement in the Gulf War in 1991 helped pave the way for the country's bid to join the European Union. This text traces that process. The first part looks at Turkey's foreign policy in the 1990s, while the second focuses on Turkey's role in internal politics during this period.