Ey Turk! Watch Out: The Final Destination of the Russians Is Turkey, Not Ukraine (1)

Source of Historical Russian Aspirations:

Tsar'grad (Istanbul) has always been an attractive center for Russia. The road to this attractive center was closed to the Russians for a long time, such as eight centuries, by various Turkish tribes (Pechenegs, Uzs, Cumans-Kipchaks) or States (Golden Army, Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire) that held the north of the Black Sea. At the end of the 10th century, the arrival of Orthodoxy in Kievan Russia from Byzantium played a role in increasing the bond between Russia and Istanbul, especially in religious terms. Moscow Knezi, after the conquest of Istanbul by the Turks, Moscow III. He declared that he was Rome (II. Rome is Istanbul) and Moscow Russia was the 'successor' of Byzantium, so the ultimate goal of the Russians was to conquer İstanbul.

Russian Tsarist Occupation of Ukraine:

After the Russians captured the Kazan Khanate, they closed the Astarhan road, whereupon the Ottoman-Russian forces faced each other for the first time in the Ejderhan Expedition in 1569. It was agreed that the parties should mutually respect each other's interests and borders, but the plundering movements of the Cossacks, who had indirect ties to Moscow, could not be prevented. As a matter of fact, in 1637, the Kazakhs occupied the Azov fortress and left it to Moscow in order not to engage in direct war with the Ottoman forces. However, considering that they were not ready to fight the Ottomans at that time, Moscow, with a rational decision, stayed away from the occupation of Azov. Russians; He marched on Ukraine in 1654 and took the vast lands of this country in the east of Kyiv from the Ukrainian Cossacks and added it to his country. Thus Moscow; Poland gained an important strategic advantage against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. The Russians, who started to use Ukraine as a springboard, started to advance in the direction of the Black Sea. During this period, the Ukrainians, who rose up against the Russian Tsar to defend their country, were supported by the Ottoman Empire. Upon this, Moscow, which made an agreement with Poland, entered Kiev for two years, but did not leave again. Thereupon, the Ottomans, who became well aware of the Russian expansionism, defeated the Russian and Kazakh armies they came across in the Ukrainian plain together with the Crimean forces in 1678 and deported the Russians to the east of the Dnieper river.

Peter I, who became the Russian Tsar in 1689, focused on the goal of establishing a European-style navy and "going down to the warm seas". For this reason, Peter, who took action to take the Azov castle from the Turks, captured this castle, which was considered the lock of the Black Sea on 19 July 1696, and dealt his first big blow against the Turks. Thus, the Russians, who reached the Black Sea coast for the first time in history, met the warm sea. Peter the Mad, who established a great Russian navy; Since the 18th century, it has paved the way for the Russians to settle in the Black Sea coasts, to expand, to establish dominance in almost all Turkish lands, including the straits.

Russians in the Black Sea:

From this date on, the Russians demanded that 'Russian merchant ships from the Black Sea be given the right to freely travel to and from'; He received the answer from the Ottomans that the state of this place was considered as the 'inland sea' and 'the sultan's harem', so foreigners could not be allowed to enter. Thereupon, the Russian Tsardom; 'for now' they have contented themselves with the Sea of ​​Azov and the 100-kilometer-long Black Sea coast. In the following period, the Russians, who took Wallachia and Moldavia and descended from the Dnieper river, occupied the Crimea in July 1771 and annexed the Crimea definitively with the 1774 Küçük Kaynarca Treaty.

Russian Moves Towards Turkish Straits:

Russians; As a result of the political and military maneuvers they carried out against the Ottoman Empire, they expanded to the south by gaining territory, and although they came as far as Yeşilköy, they could never occupy Istanbul and the Turkish Straits.

When the existence of the Ottoman Empire in Europe came to an end in 1918, mostly Russian domination was established in the European lands left by the Turks and on the Black Sea coasts (Yılmaz, 1998).

Bolshevik Foreign Minister Vishinsky, who believed that geography was always an important factor, said the following about the Straits, as if reminiscent of the foreign policy of Tsarist Russia. “When any warship is to cross from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, the regime in Moscow, whether Czarist or Communist, will not be able to pass anywhere but through the Straits”.

Even at the beginning of the Second World War, on September 25, 1939, the Soviets made some requests from the Turkish Foreign Minister Şükrü Saraçoğlu, who went to Moscow, in the meantime, demanded a change in the Statute of the Straits and the signing of a treaty for the joint defense of the Straits. However, these requests were rejected by Turkey, and the Soviet requests were shelved with the war.

The Russians' ideas of acquiring a base from the Straits came to the fore during their contacts with their allies during the war. For example, in the Berlin meeting of Hitler and Molotov, which came together on 12-13 November 1940, the Russians, along with other demands, put forward some demands on the Straits:

“The Straits should always be completely open to Russian warships, and Russia should have sea, land and air bases in the Straits in order to meet the dangers facing it through the Straits, as in the Crimean war.”

During the Second World War, the Turkish Army, which was kept ready within the framework of the neutrality policy followed by Turkey, was seen as the biggest obstacle to Soviet expansionism and demands. Although the deteriorating international balances after the Second World War offered new initiatives to the Russians to achieve their historical ambitions, Turkey; It did not intend to leave the control of the Straits to the Soviets.

Recent Soviet Expansionism:

In addition to their requests from Turkey, the Soviets also made demands and practices for the invasion of Iran in order to control the Middle East. Again, they paved the way for the civil war in Greece to become a Soviet satellite state.

The post-war policy of Soviet Russia was shaped around security, historical heritage and spreading its ideology. During the war, it occupied the areas left by the Germans in Eastern Europe, and did not withdraw from these areas after the war, thus expanding its area of ​​expansion. The desire to seize energy regions within the framework of historical ambitions rather than security concerns has been effective in the policy of expanding to the south. Considering the southward routes for Soviet Russia, three routes (Greece, Turkey and Iran) had to be used. In fact, Russia, which tried all three ways, was not successful in this.

Confronted with the Soviet expansion, each of the European countries that were still free but threatened, felt the need to seek ways to secure their freedom and security, one after the other. It was the common foreign policy of that period that these countries turned to the United States, which was the only country with the ability and power to influence or even regress the Soviet Union.

The Reason for İsmet İnönü's Direction to the Western Bloc:

As a matter of fact, Turkey also deemed it necessary to do so. İsmet İnönü shaped Turkish politics against the Russian wishes at that time. He expressed his views on this matter as follows:

“We would defend the Straits together. In other words, Russian forces would come and settle in the Straits. Then they would demand everything from us for the sake of common defense. They would have the same status in us as they had in the countries they conquered in Eastern Europe. I made up my mind immediately: Our answer would be no. I didn't trust anyone but ourselves when making this decision. But I knew that the Anglo-Saxons would not want Russia to hold the Mediterranean gate, either.”

The pressure policy that Soviet Russia started to implement against Turkey near the end of the Second World War in order to realize its aim of going south played an important role in shaping Turkey's foreign policy and even domestic policy in the later period.

Effects of Russian Edition:

Russian pressure forced Turkey to find an ally. Turkey's concern about the Soviet Union is not unfounded, from the statements made in serious notes, the 'threatening' attitude of the Soviet side in the bilateral talks at the highest level, the expansionist policy it wants to follow towards Turkey, and its internal policy evaluations that communism could also affect Turkey. originated. In addition to the demand to change the status of the straits, the demand for land from Turkey in favor of Georgia and Armenia, which were affiliated with the Soviet Union, and the pressure of the Russians from both sides to reach the Mediterranean by crossing the Turkish territory by land and sea, put the Turkish economy in a difficult situation. Although Turkey did not enter the war, it had to feed a large army during the Second World War. Turkish Government after the war; He calculated to reduce the presence of the army and thus to get rid of the defense expenses that brought a great burden to the country's economy. However, Russian pressure has caused Turkey to continue to feed a large army unnecessarily.

The Russians wanted to use the Turkish-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression dated 17 December 1925, which was to expire on 7 November 1945, as an excuse. In the face of the Russian note, which did not want to renew this agreement, Ankara sought ways to agree with Moscow. Because, Turkey's isolation in the international arena at that time made it necessary for Turkey to seek an agreement that would fit with the Soviet Union after receiving this note.

In this period, the United States followed a policy that believed that it could preserve the end-of-war order in cooperation with the Soviet Union. For this reason, the USA and other Western European countries have been far from appreciating Turkey's situation. It was only after the Soviet government took the step of subordinating some of the states in Eastern Europe that had been liberated by them from the Germans, in particular, that that, contrary to the statement published in Yalta on Poland, the Westerners understood the expansionist intentions of the Soviet Union.

In short, in this international political environment and in conditions beyond its control, Turkey could not find a way to follow other than relying on itself and finding a way to agree with the Soviets. For this reason, Turkey, in her reply note to the Soviet Union on April 4, 1945, stated that the Soviet suggestions to make a new treaty, which is more suitable for the interests of both sides and includes serious changes, instead of the friendship treaty, which is expiring, were deemed appropriate, and that the proposals to be made for this purpose would be greatly appreciated. stated that it will be examined with care and good faith.

Building American Hegemony over Turkey:

Under this psychology, the governments of the period could not find any other solution but to see the USA and England as saviors. Fear of Soviet Russia pushed Turkey voluntarily to the ranks of the USA. Meanwhile, in line with the path and goals set by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey considered it necessary to position itself within the Western Bloc, which is also seen as the cradle of civilization. This orientation was also considered as an opportunity to become westernized and realize the ideal of "reaching the level of contemporary civilization".

Thus, Turkey, which focused on eliminating the Soviet threat by positioning itself in the Western camp, could not ensure that some border arrangements developed around it were made in its favor, and in this context, it had difficulty in creating the conditions to make some critical moves. For example, Turkey; He remained 'silent' when the Dodecanese, including Meis, was given to Greece under the leadership of the British and this issue became final with the 1947 Paris Agreement. It can be said that Turkey, which approached the West because of Russian demands, missed the developments in the Western world that worked against its own rights and interests. In a way, he was caught in hail while escaping the rain.

As a result, Turkey has entered a process of change in almost every field. The foreign policy line has changed and a transformation has begun for its political, economic and socio-cultural structure. The period between 1945-1952, when Turkey's efforts to take place in the Western bloc and then enter NATO continued, were the years when the US hegemony was built over Turkey.

(To be continued)

Resources:

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Gonlubol M. and Ülman H. (1969). Turkish Foreign Policy with Events (1919-1965). Sevinç Printing House, II. Print, Ankara.

Gursel H.F. (1968). Turkish-Russian Relations Throughout History, Ak publications, Istanbul.

Morgenthau H.J. (1970). International Politics, (Trans. Baskin Oran and Unsal Aksoy), Sevinç Printing House, Ankara.

NATO Information. (1971). NATO Information and Documents, NATO Information Service, Brussels.