TURKEY’S INTEGRATION WITH EUROPE: INITIAL PHASES RECONSIDERED

Year 2000, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 0 - 0, 01.07.2000

ŞABAN Çalış

Abstract

It is an established fact that the turning point in Turkey’s integration with the West is the declaration of the Truman Doctrine. However, we should note that despite this well-known fact, many people overlook the operational meaning of the Truman Doctrine and the events following it in terms of Turkey’s integration process with the West in general and with Europe in particular. In this respect, it is first necessary to make a clear distinction between the Doctrine and the Marshall Aid Plan. Then we need to identify the meaning of ‘operational’. By ‘operational’ we mean how a ‘factor’ – fictional or material – is used and what function this factor has in the real world. From a general perspective in this sense, two important points should be made at the outset of the study. First, whereas the Truman Doctrine in fact provided a theoretical understanding for the West in general, the Marshall Aid Plan showed, however in part, how to put this theory into practice. If the Truman Doctrine was a cluster of ideas defining democratic ideals from the vantage point of the USA, Marshall Aid was a guideline not only sponsoring but also urging European nations to come together to solve their problems by their own means as much as possible. Second, from the perspective of Turkey’s integration process with the West, the Truman Doctrine pulled Turkey towards the USA which would be crowned with Turkey’s participation in NATO while the Marshall Aid Plan pushed Turkey to Europe a process that was started in 1947 but is not yet finished . Thanks to the USA and the Truman Doctrine, Turkey was able to enter the defence structure of the West, but it is still struggling to complete the process of integration with Europe as a fully-fledged member, a process started by the Marshall Aid Plan