Could the September 12, 1980 Coup Repair the Turkish-American Relationship?

American Central Intelligence Agency CIA's Station Chief in Turkey, Paul Henze, said to Jimmy Carter, the US President of the time, "Your boys did the coup!" the September 12 coup, which he heralded as; He 'repaired' the Turkish-American relations, which went through a painful period between 1974-1980! Thus, Turkey and the United States had the opportunity to recapture the "warmth" in the Turkish-American relationship that preceded the 1964 Johnson letter, and they became closer to each other. The decisions of January 24, 1980, taken under the influence of the USA and the direction of the International Monetary Fund IMF, became a milestone in Turkey. Together with Deputy Prime Minister Turgut Özal, who took office in the (Retired Admiral) Bülent Ulusu government established after the September 12 coup, a transition to the "new right" policies was made in Turkey with a "neo-liberal" understanding.

USA in the early 1980s; He argued that Turkey's balance of forces against the Caucasus region was not sufficient against the Soviets, and that Turkey had 9 divisions against the Soviets' 19 divisions. The United States argued that this region should be reinforced in a way that would support Turkey when necessary, within the framework of conventional warfare needs, and carried its view in this context to NATO platforms.

In this framework, a consensus has been formed in NATO for NATO forces to quickly reinforce Turkey by improving some of the squares in the east of Turkey and constructing new squares in order to fill the defense gap towards the Caucasus, using these squares when necessary. The American proposal, which will increase NATO's infrastructure investments in Turkey and ensure that especially Batman and Muş airports will be rebuilt from NATO funds, has also been positively received by Turkey in terms of developing the Turkish aviation business and operation infrastructure. The American proposal aimed that American and/or NATO warplanes, which would take off from Muş and Batman when necessary, could reach the entire Caucasus and the Persian Gulf. An agreement on this issue was signed between the parties on 29 October 1982. Thus, in November 1982, an understanding was reached between NATO and Turkey regarding the flow of Alliance funds, estimated to be $200 million for these investments, to Turkey, and a “Memorandum of Understanding” was also signed in Brussels.

In parallel with the investments to develop the infrastructure of conventional weapons envisaged for Turkey, NATO plans that put the use of nuclear weapons in the background and focused on conventional defense were put into effect in this period. Parallel to this, the military plan put into practice by the US President Reagan became the NATO target of only active defense-oriented force and warfare in Europe. Reagan dictated that a plan based on the offensive be made as part of active defensive measures. Thus, the new military strategy of the United States was based on the creation of a naval force capable of fighting directly against the Soviets, and air and ground forces capable of counterattacks deep into the territory of the Warsaw Pact. In the implementation of such a plan, Turkey, which is naturally a flank country and has a common border with the Russians, was seen as one of the key countries.

Uncertainty after the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, Iran's abandonment of cooperation with the West, hesitation about whether it would fulfill its obligations after a government that criticizes NATO (PASOK) came to power in Greece in 1980, made Turkey a part of the Middle East for that period. It has made it the only reliable country in the northern belt. Greece, which returned to the military wing of NATO in October 1980, after the President General Kenan Evren accepted the Rogers Plan, named after General Rogers, the NATO European Forces Commander at the time, for some reason, could not be a "reliable ally" militarily at that time.

Meanwhile, Özal's coming to power, who won the November 6, 1983 elections in Turkey, was seen as the victory of the neo-liberal policies of the new right represented by Reagan and Thatcher in Turkey. During the election period, articles praising Özal appeared in the US press and Özal was featured in the press. In addition, Özal's win was evaluated positively in terms of expectations for Turkey to come to a line in line with American policies on the basis of "Moderate Islam" for the "green belt" that the USA wants to create in the Middle East.

As a matter of fact, Turkish-American relations were warm during Özal's period, and with the guidance of the USA and the influence of Özal's proactive personality, significant progress was achieved in Turkish-Greek relations.

In the meantime, as a requirement of the logistics plans of NATO defense plans, 9 implementation agreements, which set out the technical aspects of the previously expressed 1982 Memorandum of Understanding, were signed by the Turkish 

It was signed between Turkey and NATO in 1985 under the leadership of the USA. Thus, the efforts to open a military square in Muş and Batman and to expand the Erhaç (Malatya) Air Base gained momentum. New squares; At the same time, they were also considered as squares that American Riot Forces could use to intervene in the Middle East when necessary. In the meantime, the words of Nixon, one of the former presidents of the USA, in the context of "Turkey must fill the gap left by Iran in the Middle East" during his visit to Turkey in September 1985, caused reactions in the Turkish press and the Foreign Affairs community.

Despite the improving relations between the two countries after 1980, the USA; Citing some of the events that took place within the scope of the operations carried out by Turkey in the Southeastern Anatolia region and northern Iraq to suppress PKK terrorism (such as allegations of 'torture', 'ill-treatment' by the police against the demonstrators and Turkey's so-called citizens of Kurdish origin), He has not neglected to make accusations from time to time that there are human rights violations in Turkey.

Despite the good relationship between Reagan and Özal and the development of Turkish-Israeli relations during Özal's visit to the USA in 1985, there was a positive atmosphere on issues such as Turkey's mediation in the Iran-Iraq War, the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement (SEİA) signed in the same year. ) negotiations, the US side's reluctance to remove the American quotas preventing the increase of Turkey's export potential made it possible to extend the SEIA for only one year. Moreover, the American side cut even the grants and loans given to Turkey. Turkey, on the other hand, rejected the USA's request to establish a radio station for the Turkish communities in Central Asia, taking into account the Turkish-Soviet relations. The parties, which started to look for a solution for SEIA at the level of Foreign Ministers, agreed on a solution that extended the term of SEIA for 5 more years with an exchange of letters on March 16, 1987. As a result of the agreement signed during the extension of SEIA, the US side agreed to donate 40 F-4 fighter jets to Turkey (Akalın, 2011, p.152-155).

Özal's active stance in Turkish foreign and economic policies, and even the positive decisions he made in favor of the Americans, were not enough to bring the American side to a point that 'holds' Turkey. Meanwhile, Turkey's request for the cancellation of FMS loan debts (forgiveness clause previously applied to Egypt and Israel) was not accepted by the USA. On the other hand, due to Özal's economic policies, Turkey tried to increase its commercial relations with the USA. Turkish foreign trade policy, based on the slogan of "less aid more trade", pioneered the establishment of the Turkish-American Business Council and aimed to increase trade between the two countries. However, the reluctance of the American side to remove the quotas in the textile field, where Turkey's potential is realized at its highest, has rightly caused disappointment in the Turkish government circles. Özal's efforts to attract American investments did not receive the necessary attention on the part of the USA. In general, a contradiction has emerged between Özal's "economically focused" bilateral relations policy and the American military-political approach. While Özal was trying to build a more independent and self-sustaining Turkish economy, the American side wanted Turkey's current "dependence" on the United States to continue, rather than for Turkey to stand on its own feet.

Seeing that the steps it took regarding Cyprus in this period were not "warmly" received by both parties due to the expectations of the Turkish and Greek sides, the USA used the British bases on this island when necessary and thus was able to continue its activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Thus, the USA; It has started to follow an attitude that the solution of the Cyprus problem between Turkey and Greece should be developed by these two allied countries themselves. Meanwhile, the USA, which put pressure on countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan that might recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which emerged as an independent state, prevented Turkey's hand from getting stronger against Greece with its Cyprus dimension. At the same time, the attitude of the American side against Rauf Denktaş in Cyprus (the problem cannot be resolved as long as Denktas is in power) has dragged the Cyprus issue into a dead end in Turkish-American relations. In fact, initiatives that thought Asil Nadir instead of Denktas came to the agenda, but this manipulative American policy could not bring results.

During the Gulf War of 1990-1991, the US-Turkey relations, which entered a positive process with Turkey's stance on bases, took the form of a bilateral alliance that also operates outside of NATO. However, since 1993, the United States has used its own equipment in Homeland Security Operations. 

and started to impose a kind of "shadow embargo" on Turkey.

Suspicious approaches have been displayed by NATO and the USA regarding the necessity of the operations that Turkey has to carry out against the PKK terrorist organization, both inside and outside. In the context of Turkey's relations with the West, while it was expected that Turkey's prestige in the West would rise due to the active support it provided in the First Gulf War, the opposite happened. Due to the operations against the PKK, more frequent criticisms have been directed against Turkey, especially on issues such as human rights and democratization.

The American reports, which see PKK terrorism and the rights of Kurds in Turkey and in Turkey's neighbors the same, caused an anti-Turkey mood to partially blow in the US public opinion, and its negative reflections on Turkish-American relations were observed. On the other hand, the creation of an environment conducive to activities aimed at the so-called 'establishment of Kurdistan' within the no-fly zone in northern Iraq after 1990 led to an increasing trend of anti-US sentiment in the Turkish public opinion. The perception among the Turkish people that the US has chosen the Kurds as allies for its activities in Iraq has become a common opinion.

In the operations of the TAF to suppress the PKK rebellion, an intense lobbying activity was carried out by the Armenians and Greeks in the USA that human rights were violated by the TAF. USA and Germany to appease these lobbies; They started to prevent arms sales to Turkey and to impose limited economic sanctions.

With this article, some events and developments between the two countries between 1980-1995, an important period, are presented to your attention in order to give a perspective to the Turkish-American relations that have not improved.