The 1945 Turkish-Soviet crisis: Devising a foundational myth for Turkish foreign policy

Abstract

One of the key motifs of the Cold War was the assertion that in 1945 the USSR was “threatening” Turkey’s territorial integrity by “demands” for the Turkish territories of Kars and Ardahan, and for military bases on the Straits. Those Soviet “demands” have served as a foundational myth for Turkey’s foreign and domestic policy since 1945. The main aim of the present article is to show that the USSR had no claims to Turkish territory or military bases and that those were merely proposals made in the context of Ankara’s 1945 offer to the USSR regarding an alliance. However, by characterizing these proposals as “demands” the İnönü government was able to invent the myth of the Soviet “threat.” It was used in foreign policy to precipitate Turkey’s emergence from its WWII-era isolation (by integrating with the West right at the start of the Cold War), and in domestic policy, to help the government build a political opposition as the country was transitioning to a multiparty political system.