The Cooperation Amid Problems: Turkish-American Relations in the 1980's

Abstract

The uneasy relationship between Turkeyand the United States was
further exacerbated by the resumption of poppy cultivation by the Turkish
govemment in June 1974. The Americans, who believed that the main cause
of the American drug addiction problem was the smuggling of Turkish
opium into the United States, perceived this Turkish initiative as an antiAmerican act. While Congress was busy with trying to cut off aid to Turkey
as a retaliation, a coup occurred in Cyprus on LSJuly 1974, bringing about
the Turkish intervention to the island. In both cases the American
government inclined toward accepting the new situations and avoided
showing strong responses which would alienate both the Greeks and the
Turks. Imposing of an arrns embargo on Turkey by the U.S. Congress,
starting on 5 February 1975, was mainly a result of a power competition
between the U.S. administratian and Congress, which was determined to
make the arrogant rulers respect the rulc of lawand to regain its power in
foreign policy-making. The unhappiness of congressmen on the Turkish
poppy decision and propaganda activities of the Greek lobby, too, played role
in the embargo dccision

Keywords

• The Cooperation
• Amid Problem
• Turkish-American Relation