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Kemalist Turkey and the Middle East
amit bein
Clemson University, South Carolina
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
4843/24, 2nd Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi - 110002, India
79 Anson Road, #06-04/06, Singapore 079906
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107198005
DOI: 10.1017/9781108182072
C Amit Bein 2017
vii
Figures
viii
Maps
ix
Acknowledgments
The research for this book was facilitated by the staff of the National
Library of Turkey (Milli Kütüphane) and the Turkish Republican
Archives (Cumhuriyet Arşivi) in Ankara; the British Library and
National Archives in London; the Library of Congress in Washing-
ton, DC, and the National Archives at College Park; and the Central
Zionist Archives and the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. I owe
a particular debt of gratitude to Clemson University’s library and its
interlibrary loan service.
I am thankful to a number of colleagues and friends who commented
on parts of the book, reviewed some chapters of it, or invited me to
speak about sections of it, among them Şükrü Hanioğlu, Ebru Boyar,
Kate Fleet, Erik Zürcher, Mike Reynolds, Ryan Gingeras, Eugene
Rogan, and Mustafa Aksakal.
I would like to thank the Institute of Turkish Studies for a sabbatical
grant and Clemson University, its College of AAH, and the Department
of History for a number of research grants that supported my research.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to my colleague Billy Terry for his
invaluable assistance in drawing the maps for this book. Last but not
least, I would like to thank my editor Maria Marsh and all the fabulous
support staff in Cambridge University Press.
x
1 Not-So-Distant Neighbor
1
2 Not-So-Distant Neighbor
Along these lines, major recent works on Turkish foreign policy have
very little to say about Ankara’s relations with the Arab countries of
the Middle East during the interwar period.14
This book suggests that Turkey’s engagement with the Middle East
in the interwar period was in fact much more multifaceted, intricate,
purposeful, and intriguing than the dominant narrative of disengage-
ment and disinterest allows. This was very evident to contemporary
observers in the 1930s but is not reflected in the historical literature on
the period. This book is an effort to write Turkey back into the history
of the Middle East in the early post-Ottoman period. Such a reexami-
nation of the relations between the Kemalist republic and neighboring
countries and societies in the region is beneficial and timely in several
respects. First and foremost, it offers an opportunity for a reevaluation
of interregional relations in the early post-Ottoman period, in a field
of study mostly focused on the impact of European colonialism on the
Middle East in the interwar period. That impact was obviously piv-
otal and decisive, but regional dynamics, involving Kemalist Turkey,
also played a not inconsequential role in the history of the period.
Questions about the durability of the new post-Ottoman borders and
political arrangements, diplomatic relations between newly established
regional powers, economic interests and plans coupled with geostrate-
gic considerations, and persisting and newly nurtured social and
Not-So-Distant Neighbor 7
cultural ties across new national borders were all parts of those
regional dynamics during the interwar period. An added benefit of the
reexamination of Turkey’s relations with the Middle East during that
period is that it allows for a reassessment of the legacies of this era
of the early republic for Turkey’s engagement with the region in the
decades that followed, from World War II to the present. A reconsider-
ation of the formative period of the post-Ottoman Middle East thus has
the potential to amend and enrich the historical record on the period
and to provide a revised perspective on the precedents set in that period
and its impact on developments in the decades that followed.
The drawing of Turkey’s borders with its Middle Eastern neighbors
was formally concluded in the mid-1920s, following the signing of the
Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. It was the end of a protracted and com-
plicated process that began on the eve of World War I and proceeded
more dramatically in the aftermath of the Great War. The drawing
of Turkey’s borders with Iran was the least painful and complicated
because the borders were based on the centuries-old Ottoman-Persian
frontier lines. A border treaty signed in 1913 served as the basis for
the Lausanne borders of Iran with Turkey. In the intervening decade,
there were several efforts by both sides to change the demarcation line,
but the postwar settlement set it back to its prewar line. It neverthe-
less was not free of challenges and amendments in the interwar period.
Still, the setting and demarcation of Turkey’s borders with Syria and
Iraq was much more complicated, as it could not rely on any prewar
international agreement or long-standing frontier lines. Instead, these
borders were set after years of fighting, attempts at imposed agree-
ments, and, finally, reluctant territorial compromises. The Treaty of
Lausanne determined the borders with Syria in 1923, but the bor-
der with Iraq was finalized only in 1926, after further maneuvering,
negotiations, and arbitration. Yet, the protracted, convoluted, and con-
flicting developments that led to the demarcation of these borders
produced much suspicion, contesting territorial ambitions, unsettled
frontier regions, and political uncertainties that in turn generated
doubts about the long-term sustainability and viability of the new bor-
ders. In retrospect, we know that the new borders set in the mid-1920s
mostly remained intact in the decades that followed. But throughout
the interwar period, and particularly in the volatile 1930s, it was far
from certain that the new borders might not prove ephemeral and
changeable.
8 Not-So-Distant Neighbor
The first steps toward the partition of the Ottoman Empire and
the demarcation of new borders in the region were taken by the
Allied powers during World War I. In 1915 and 1916, after months-
long multilateral negotiations, the British, French, Italian, and Russian
governments inked a number of agreements regarding the territorial
division of the Ottoman lands at the end of the war, which became
popularly known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement. They stipulated the
maintenance of a small Ottoman-Turkish principality mainly in parts
of northern and central Anatolia, while Italy was to be awarded con-
trol over parts of southern Anatolia, Russia domination over East-
ern Anatolia, and France authority over parts of Southeastern Anato-
lia, Syria, and northern Mesopotamia. Britain was to receive control
over Ottoman territories farther to the south. But when the hostil-
ities between the Allies and the Ottomans formally came to an end
with the Armistice of Mudros in October 1918, these agreements were
not implemented as conceived. In the intervening years, the Bolshevik
Revolution pulled Russia out of the partition plans, while the Ameri-
can entry into the war required reformulation of old imperialist goals
within the new parameters of the League of Nations and the power-
ful idea of the right of self-determination, as conceived by President
Woodrow Wilson. Furthermore, since it was mainly imperial British
forces that actually occupied almost all Ottoman territories south of
Anatolia, London was inclined to secure control over larger territo-
ries than were awarded to it in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, largely at
France’s expense. Finally, Britain sought to find a way to integrate into
the postwar settlements various commitments it gave and promises it
made to its Arab allies in the region and to the Zionist movement. It
took many months of, at times contentious, negotiations and a signif-
icant amount of arm-twisting and machinations between the wartime
allies until they reached in April 1920 an agreement for the partition
of the Ottoman Empire. Heavy pressure was then put on the Ottoman
authorities in Istanbul to accept the Allies’ dictated terms, which the
government of the Sultan finally felt compelled to accept in the Treaty
of Sèvres in August 1920. The new partition plan differed in certain
respects from the wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement. Britain, rather than
France, was now awarded control over northern Mesopotamia, Greece
over parts of Western Anatolia, and Armenia over territories in East-
ern Anatolia that were previously designed as areas of Russian dom-
ination (Map 1.1). Furthermore, the treaty stipulated terms that were
Map 1.1 Kemalist map of the Treaty of Sèvres. Adapted from La Direction générale de la Presse au Ministère
de l’Intérieur, La Turquie Contemporaine (Ankara, 1935), 45.
10 Not-So-Distant Neighbor
Turks abiding by the National Pact, and thus its legitimacy and perma-
nence were questioned on both sides of the border.
The demarcation of the Turkish-Iraqi border proved much more pro-
tracted and not less controversial and frustrating for the states and
communities affected by it. After the Italian forces withdrew peacefully
from Antalya in June 1921, and the Greek forces were routed in August
1922, the Eastern Anatolian frontier between Turkey and the British-
controlled Kingdom of Iraq remained the most contested and volatile
of Turkey’s border regions. Even after all other borders and most other
territorial issues were resolved by the signing of the Treaty of Lau-
sanne in July 1923, the future of the Turkish-Iraqi border remained
hung in the balance. Turkey laid claim to the city of Mosul and adja-
cent Kurdish-dominated regions in northern Mesopotamia, in accor-
dance with the stipulation of the National Pact. It complained that the
British forces occupied these regions unlawfully after the signing of the
Armistice of Mudros in October 1918 and insisted that ethnic, histor-
ical, geographic, and economic considerations dictated that the region
and its peoples should be part of Turkey. Britain responded, on behalf
of Iraq, that northern Mesopotamia should rightfully remain tied to
Baghdad and the newly established Iraqi monarchy. Moreover, British
officials demanded that the region of Hakkari, farther to the north and
controlled by Turkish forces, should be also annexed to Iraq, so as to
allow for the return to it of Christian Nestorian (Assyrian) tribal pop-
ulations that were driven out of their homeland by Ottoman forces
and their local auxiliaries during the Great War. London and Ankara
failed to resolve their differences, and the determination of the border
was therefore handed to the League of Nations. While the arbitration
and deliberations went on, a demarcation line known as the Brussels
Line was set as a provisional line separating Turkey and Iraq. Through-
out 1924 and 1925, Britain and Turkey not only invested efforts at
building a strong legal and diplomatic case to support their claims but
also aided and abetted rebellions aimed at weakening their adversary’s
hold over the territory on the other side of the line. This only inten-
sified the instability in the region and the distrust and mutual suspi-
cions between all involved. Finally, the League of Nations determined
in 1926 that the Brussels Line should become the permanent border.
Turkey accepted this outcome very reluctantly, after further ironing
out of conditions and details in negotiations with Britain. This was a
painful concession for Ankara, after years of public vows not to give
Not-So-Distant Neighbor 13
early 1940s, which was admittedly still much smaller than the armies
of Turkey and Iran. The relative size of these countries’ armed forces
also correlated with the number of airplanes, tanks, and other mod-
ern weapon systems at their disposal.17 All three states deployed their
armed forces regularly to quell insurrections in their frontier regions,
primarily led by ethnic minorities in their common border regions. At
times they cooperated against these rebels. But in many instances they
suspected each other of encouraging or assisting rebels on the other side
of the border. The level of distrust was in fact significant enough that
these mutual suspicions did not dissipate even after the three countries
signed in 1937, along with Afghanistan, a nonaggression pact known
as the Treaty of Saadabad. Across the Mediterranean, in Egypt, the
British finally allowed the government to gradually begin the formation
of a meaningful if small armed force only after the signing of the Anglo-
Egyptian Treaty in 1936. The clear military imbalance between the
fully independent, partially independent, and colonized lands, and the
constant mutual suspicions between them all, was the context within
which the regional and colonial powers made recourse to diplomacy
during the interwar period, to manage their differences and protect
their interests through nonviolent contacts and negotiations.
Diplomatic ties and engagements involving the major European
powers were of prime importance, but not to the complete exclusion
of diplomatic relations within the region. The government of Iran, and
from the early 1930s those of Iraq, Egypt, and, to a much lesser degree,
even Syria, conducted their own foreign policy and managed their rela-
tions with Turkey. Iran established formal diplomatic relations with
Kemalist Turkey already shortly after the establishment of the repub-
lic. Turkey’s relations with Egypt, Iraq, and Syria were initially man-
aged by their colonial overlords. But Ankara and Cairo established
diplomatic relations shortly after the ratification of the Treaty of Lau-
sanne, and Baghdad followed suit after the signing of the Anglo-Iraqi
Treaty of 1930, which paved the way for Iraq’s formal independence in
1932. Turkey established embassies and legations in the capital cities
of these states, and consulates in other major cities in Egypt, Iran, and
Iraq, as well as in the French mandates in Syria and Lebanon, the
British mandate in Palestine, and in the Saudi-ruled Hijaz. The bilat-
eral relations between Turkey and its neighboring countries involved
diplomatic ties, defense and security issues, and economic interests,
as well as consular matters of visas, various certificates, property and
Not-So-Distant Neighbor 17
residency rights, and so on. The division of the former Ottoman terri-
tories into separate states indeed left many unresolved issues that were
managed by the Turkish diplomatic missions in the Middle East, and
by Middle Eastern official representatives in Turkey. From attending to
issues of citizenship, marriage, inheritance, and so forth, to collecting
information on opposition activists abroad, keeping tabs on political
developments, and representing their countries in social, cultural, and
diplomatic functions, Turkish diplomatic representatives in the Middle
East and Middle Eastern envoys in Turkey played meaningful roles in
the nascent regional state system.
The parameters of Ankara’s relations with the Middle East were
set, however, by broader geopolitical considerations related to Turkey’s
changing relations with the major European powers. The most stable
and productive relations nurtured by the Kemalist republic from the
early 1920s and throughout most of the interwar period was with the
Soviet Union. In the 1920s, the Turkish-Soviet alignment was largely
based on their common threat perception from Britain and France,
whereas in the 1930s it, was their common concern with the increasing
belligerence of Fascist Italy that contributed to their cooperation in the
international arena. Ankara and Moscow were never formal allies and
had their share of disagreements. For example, the Kemalist suppres-
sion of Communist activities in Turkey was not viewed kindly by the
Comintern, and disagreements regarding Turkey’s rights in the Straits
cooled their relations in the late 1930s. Nevertheless, the two sides
maintained good working relations until the eve of World War II, with
Ankara being careful to coordinate with the Soviet leadership all its
major diplomatic initiatives, including regarding the Middle East, or at
the least to secure Moscow’s acquiescence. In contrast, Italy emerged
in the 1930s as Turkey’s main concern in the international arena. The
Italians already controlled the Dodecanese Islands, off the Mediter-
ranean coast of Anatolia, since capturing them from the Ottomans
in 1912. But it was in the early 1930s that Ankara became particu-
larly concerned with Benito Mussolini’s increasingly belligerent and
expansionist posture in the Mediterranean arena and the Balkans. The
shared concern with Italy’s goals and intentions helped pave the way
for a gradual rapprochement between Turkey and Britain in the mid-
1930s, and later with France too. The improving relations were always
fraught with difficulties, because of lingering mutual suspicions from
the early 1920s and disagreements regarding border issues between
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