U.S. Foreign Policys Effects on Modern Turkey Essay -- Politics Polit

U.S. Foreign Policy's Effects on Modern Turkey Turkey has managed to be halfway in and halfway out across most of the burning subjects of the past century. Tod Lindberg, The Washington Times (Lindberg) This statement best describes the relationship today between the United States and modern Turkey. It is a nation that plays a crucial role in U.S. foreign policy because of its strategic location and its democratic government. However, Turkey often is overlooked in the larger picture of U.S. foreign policy. Because of this, Turkey has managed to only be partially involved in major international affairs. To put it bluntly, America uses Turkey when it needs it, but other than that, Turkey is not a major priority of U.S. foreign policy. The problem with this situation is that Turkey often suffers. It can be noted that U.S. foreign policy has aided modern Turkey in several ways. However, for the most part, U.S. foreign policy has slowed the growth and development of modern Turkey. The Gulf War of 1991 left Turkey crippled, but it gained a strong relationship with the United States. Turkey played a crucial role in the first Gulf War and in post-Gulf War activities. During the 1991 Gulf War, Turkey allowed U.S. troops to operate on its soil and allowed its border to be used to wage a northern attack on Iraq (Ciarrocca). After the war was over, U.S. fighter jets used the Turkish air base, Incirlik, to patrol the UN-mandated northern "no fly" zone in Iraq (Hedges). Without Turkey's cooperation in these international affairs the campaigns would not have been as successful as they were. However, Turkey did suffer because of its cooperation with U.S. foreign policy. Because of Turkey's role in the first Gulf war, it ... ...nd Turkey. 14 December 2003.? Greimel, Hans. (2003). ?World wary of more attacks, determined not to give in.? Associated Press (21 November). Found in Lexis-Nexis, keyword: ?U.S. Foreign Policy? and Turkey. 15 December 2003. Hedges, Stephen. (2003). ?Turkey thrust into vital gulf role; Nation leery of regionwide backlash?. Chicago Tribune (21 January). Found at Global Security 16 December 2003. http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030121-turk01.htm. Lindberg, Tod. (2003). ?The odd man out; Turkey forgotten in U.S. foreign policy.? The Washington Times (17 June). Found in Lexis-Nexis, keyword: ?U.S. Foreign Policy? and Turkey. 15 December 2003. Parris, Mark. (2003). ?Turkey?s Future Direction and U.S.-Turkey Relations.? Federal News Service (1 October).? Found in Lexis-Nexis, keyword: ?U.S. Foreign Policy? and Turkey. 15 December 2003.