Turkey's Syria Policy Between Two Coups (1960-1980)

The Syrian crisis, which broke out in March 2011 and almost caused a global earthquake, has been one of the most pressing issues in Turkish foreign policy for the past 10 years. The Syria policy that Turkey followed during the Arab Spring period caused great debates both at home and abroad from the first day and increased academic interest in Turkey-Syria relations. However, despite this increasing interest recently, it is observed that studies examining the relations between the two countries mostly focus on current developments and miss the historical dynamics of Turkey's Syria policy. This book sheds light on the period of 1960-1980, which has not been discussed in detail in the literature on Turkey-Syria relations until now. In the book, Turkey's policy towards its neighbor Syria in the 1960s and 1970s, when it sought new foreign policy, is analyzed based on domestic and foreign archive documents. The book reveals that Turkey-Syria relations, which were overshadowed by the Cold War rivalry in the 1950s and PKK terrorism in the post-1980 period, settled on a clear ground of softening and reconciliation in the period from the 27 May 1960 coup to the 12 September 1980 coup. We hope that this book will be instrumental in carrying out the debates around Turkey-Syria relations on a healthier ground.