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Period: to
Turkish War of Independance
Fought by Turkish activists against the allies because they split up the country. -
Treaty of Lausanne signed
This drew the current boundaries of Turkey. -
Turkey declares war on Germany and Japan
They took no active part in the war. -
Period: to
Korean War Involvement
Turkey Participated with UN forces in the Korean War. -
Turkey becomes a full member of NATO
Turkey joined NATO because they wanted close bilateral relations with the US throughout the Cold War. They have been involved in the following ways:
Signitory: Balkan Entente (1953)
Joined: Baghdad Pact (1955: later CENTO)
Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)
Council of Europe
Associate member of the Europen Common Market -
Turkey invades Cypress
Turkey ivades Cypress by sea and air following the failure of diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Cease fire on Aug 16. -
Period: to
Turkey-Kurdistan Workers' Party Conflict
Armed conflict between Turkey and Kurdish insurgent groups who want to seperate from Turkey and make their own country of Kurdistan. -
Turkey establishes a military government
This stops the slide towards anarchy and improved the economy. -
New constitution approved
Approved by 91.5% of voters. -
Parliment passed a new law effecting the military
The law reduced the military's role in political life and offered partial amnesty to PKK (the Kurdistan Workers Party) members. -
Turkish-U.S. relations severely strained
Turkey's parliment narrowly failed to pass a resolution permitting the US to use Turkish bases as launching pad for the pending war against Iraq. 90% of Turks were against the war, but US promised economic aid. -
Terrorist attacks rock Istanbul
Nov 17: Truck bombs exploded near 2 synagogues.
Nov 22: Bombs target the British Consulate and a British Bank50 killed, 100's were wounded Al-Qaeda is believed to be responsible
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First Kurdish language program broadcast
Government also released Kurdish activists from prison and abolished death penalty in all but exceptional cases. -
US House Foreign Relations Committee calls Turkish killings genocide
The killings of 1.5 million Armenians durring WWI was called genocide by a resolution of the US House Foreign Relations Committee. As a result the Turks recalled their foreign ambassador to the US and threatened to withdraw support of the War in Iraq. -
PKK members escalate their attacks into turkey
In responce Turkey's parliment voted to deploy troops into Northern Iraq. -
Turkish fighter jets bomb Iraq
With the help of US military they bombed areas in Northern Iraq targeting the PKK. -
Turkish troops resume attacks on Iraq
They killed as many as 160 PKK fighters who claimed to have killed as many troops. -
Ban on wearing headscarves lifted
Parliment passed a measure that would lift the ban on women wearing headscarves in universities. -
Armenia-Turkey establish diplomatic relations
They also reopen the border. -
Turkey makes uranium deal with Iran
While the Security Council was negotiating sanctions against Iran, Iran made a deal with Turkey to give 2,640 pounds of enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 20% enriched uranium. The country was criticized for interfering with sanctions and trying to increase its presence on the world stage. -
9 Turkish activists are killed
When a Turkish humanitarian organization sent aid ships to Gaza, Israeli commandos boarded the ships. This was because Israel and Egypt had imposed a blockade on Gaza. In the fight that insued when the ship was borded 9 Turks were killed. -
Vote on referendum passes
Parliment is given increased oversight of the judiciary and the military. The military's power was diminished and citizens recieved greater democratic freedoms.
