1945-1950 1960-1971







Turkey 1950-1960


Administration . In Turkey's first multiparty free elections in 1950, the opposition Democratic Party won. The office of PM was held by Adnan Menderes from 1950 to 1960. General elections were held in 1950, 1954 and 1957. In 1960 PM Menderes was ousted by a military coup d'etat.

Foreign Policy . Turkey send troops to fight in the Korean War (1950-1953). Turkey joined NATO in 1952.
Turkey signed the Balkan Pact, with Greece and Yugoslavia, in 1954, joined CENTO (Baghdad Pact, with Iraq, Iran and Pakistan) in 1955. Both the Balkan Pact and CENTO served the purpose of containing the USSR. When Iraq left CENTO in 1958, CENTO headquarters was moved from Baghdad to Ankara.
Cyprus was held by Britain since 1878, formally annexed in 1914. From 1954 to 1959 a Greek Cypriot guerilla fought against British rule, with the object of Enosis, annexation by Greece. Britain, concerned about maintaining her military bases on Cyprus, suggested negotiations about the future of the island by Britain, Greece and Turkey. The Istanbul Progrom of 1955, against the city's large Greek minority, was organized by PM Menderes' Democratic Party, resulting in the deterioration of relations with fellow NATO member Greece.

The Economy . Turkey produced 3.8 million metric tons of wheat in 1950, 8.5 million metric tons in 1960 (IHS p.203).
Consumer prices rose by the factor 2.5 in the period from 1950 to 1960 (IHS pp.959, 960), reflecting moderate inflation.

Social History . The census of 1950 counted 20.9 million Turks, the census of 1955 24.0 million, the census of 1960 27.7 million.

Ethnic, Religious Minorities . The Istanbul Pogrom of 1955 triggered the exodus of Turkey's Greek minority.

Cultural History . Turkish athletes participated in the Summer Olympics of Helsinki 1952, Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960. In Rome 1960 Turkish athletes took a record 7 gold medals, all of them in wrestling.
In 1951, Turkish Communist poet Nazim Hikmet fled to Moscow.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles Politics of Turkey, 1960 Turkish Coup d'Etat, Adnan Menderes, List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, Multi-Party Period in the Republic of Turkey, Accession of Turkey to the EU, Elections in Turkey, Foreign Relations of Turkey, Turkey at the 1952 SummerOlympics, Turkey at the 1956 SummerOlympics, Turkey at the 1960 SummerOlympics, Greco-Turkish Relations, from Wikipedia
Timeline, from BBC News
Water for Sustainable Development in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin, by A. Kibaroglu
Turkey : The Party System in 1950-1956 and 1957-1962, in : Kenneth Janda, Political Parties : A Cross-National Survey
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Turkey, by Ben Cahoon
Historical Population Statistics : Turkey, from Population Statistics at Univ. Utrecht
REFERENCE IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Chapter 12 : Along the Mediterranean, pp.160-177, in : John Gunter, Inside Europe Today, NY : Harper & Bros. 1961 [G]
Chapter 12 : Along the Mediterranean, pp.160-177, in : John Gunter, Inside Europe Today, NY : Harper & Bros. 1961 [G]
Andrew J.A. Mango, Turkey and the Middle East, pp. 187-196 in : Walter Z. Laqueur (ed.), The Middle East in Transition, NY : Praeger 1958 [G]
Article Turkey, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1950 pp.682-683, 1951 pp.686-687, 1952 p.690, 1953 pp.699-700, 1954 p.701, 1955 pp.755-756, 1956 pp.692-693, 1957 pp.756-757, 1958 pp.695-696, 1959 pp.693-694, 1960 pp.693-694, 1961 pp.691-693, 1962 pp.686-687, 1963 pp.801-802, 1964 pp.826-827, 1965 pp.829-830, 1966 pp.778-779, 1967 pp.766-767, 1968 pp.773-774 [G]
Article : Turkey, in : Americana Annual 1957 pp.789-791, 1961 pp.768-770, 1962 pp.775-777, 1963 pp.687-689, 1964 pp.670-671, 1965 pp.700-701, 1967 pp.693-695, 1968 pp.687-689, 1969 pp.694-696 [G]
Article : Turkey, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1952 pp.430-431, 1961 pp.337-338 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 12th 2002, last revised on June 19th 2007

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