Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi / The Journal of International Social Research Cilt: 11 Sayı: 61 Yıl: 2018 Volume: 11 Issue: 61 Year: 2018 www.sosyalarastirmalar.com Issn: 1307-9581 http://dx.doi.org/10.17719/jisr.2018.2917 TURKISH FOREIGN AND ECONOMIC POLICY BETWEEN 1950 AND 1975 Sinem ERAY  Sonat BAYRAM** Abstract Foreign policy decisions are taken under certain conditions and circumstances. It is accepted that the decision makers act under the influence of both the state and the international environment when making foreign policy decisions. Today, foreign policy and economic relations are even more interrelated with each other. After World War II, the world was divided into two parts. Turkish foreign policy took place alongside the USA, taking into account the Soviet threat, the economy and the domestic policy situation. This is why foreign policy-making is shaped according to the goal allied with the United States and integration with the West. In this study, the relations between Turkey and the Soviet Union during the War of Independence, the period of Atatürk and after the Second World War, will be investigated close relations established by the United States both politically and economically. How the USA tried to interfere with its foreign policy and economic situation to Turkey will be explained. Keywords: United States, Soviet Union, Economy, Foreign Policy. 1. Introduction After the Second World War, Turkey was also affected by the process of foreign policy making in the world system, which was separated by bipolar. Turkey had been taking the United States side taking into consideration the Soviet threat, its relations with the West and its internal political condition, Turkish foreign policy has been shaped aiming to become allies with the United States and to be integrated with the West. Thus, during the 1950s, Turkish - American relations were “in perfect harmony”. In 1964, the letter sent by US President Lyndon B. Johnson to prevent Turkey's intervention in Cyprus, which was written in a rude style, marked the first crisis between the United States and Turkey in history. Later, the second foreign policy crisis during the Cold War with the United States was the poppy cultivation crisis. Turkey's attempts to prevent poppy cultivation by the United States, between the years of 1968-1973, in which the United States – Turkey relations have shown a fluctuating image. This crisis has been an economic crisis with the USA. Another crisis is the suspension of the use of Incirlik in 1974. The USA decided to impose a weapon embargo on Turkey after the Cyprus operation in 1974. As a result, Turkey suspended the use of Incirlik base and other bases within the borders of the country and transferred control of them to the Turkish Armed Forces. One of the most serious problems Turkey faced at the end of World War II was the improvement and development of the country's economy, which was shaken during the war. Although Turkey did not actually enter the war, it had hard economic difficulties at the end of the war because it kept the army mobilized during the war. In this process, the government carried out new economic and financial policies and on the other hand emphasized on international economic relations (Gönlübol, Ulman, 2014). With the end of the Second World War, there have been major changes in the political and economic fields in the world and therefore in Turkey. Changes in Turkey's economic policy have shown its impact on the economy's functioning and structure. After the war, it is possible to distinguish the reasons of this transformation as internal and external factors. These internal and external factors have been interacted in the political and economic situation of the period (Şahin, 2000, 93). Since the Tanzimat Reform era, relations with the global economy in Turkey have followed Europe in general and then the Western world. As the Second World War continued, the rise in inflation and commodity shortages along with the economic decline led to new transformations in political pressures. The newly formed “national bourgeoisie” in opening out Turkey's economy, which is closed to the outside world, played a major role in the United States, which intends to establish the international global system (Kazgan, 2006, 78-79).  Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Doktora Öğrencisi. ** Dr. Öğr. Üyesi, Trakya Üniversitesi, Uygulamalı Bilimler Yüksek Okulu, Bankacılık Bölümü Öğretim Üyesi.