U.S. Policy toward Emerging Anti-Americanism in Türkiye: The Problem of American Military Presence, 1958–1960 Presence, 1958-1960

Vollständiger Abstract

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Following Türkiye's accession to NATO in 1952, the number of U.S. military personnel in the country increased rapidly, and by the late 1950s anti-Americanism had begun to emerge visibly. This article examines how U.S. authorities interpreted this rising anti-Americanism between 1958 and 1960 and what solutions they developed in response. The period corresponds to a critical rupture between the favorable postwar image the United States enjoyed in Türkiye and the more ideologically grounded anti-Americanism of the 1960s. The article's central argument is that the Department of Defense and military authorities disagreed with the Department of State and the Embassy over how to define the problem. While the State Department defined the problem in terms of military indiscipline, inadequate orientation, and fragmented command structure, the Defense Department located the source in increased military visibility and the negative press image of American servicemen. Under the dominance of the military view, solutions focused not on addressing underlying tensions but on reducing visibility, improving press relations, and obtaining jurisdictional waivers to shield legal proceedings from public scrutiny. Rather than diminishing social resentment, this approach laid the groundwork for anti-Americanism to acquire a more ideological foundation in the 1960s, reflecting the failure of U.S. authorities to accurately diagnose the problem or develop an effective response.