Turkey, CENTO vs. NATO Mutually Supporting or a Conflict of Interest

摘要

A bellicose Soviet post-World War II policy caused Turkey to seek an increasingly strong alignment with the West. Although somewhat belatedly accepted into NATO, she became the West's champion in the Middle East as demonstrated by her leadership in organizing the Baghdad Pact in 1955. Arab rejection of the Western backed regional defense concept against Russian encroachment from the north caused the Pact to eventuate into a 'northern tier' now known as the Central Treaty Organization(CENTO). By virtue of these two postwar alliances, Turkey found herself acknowledged as a part of two separate regions. In that she is so identified, she has responsibilities to each. The efforts can be mutually supporting or they can be counterproductive. The principal conclusion gained from analyzing the governing statutes of both alliances requires that Turkey recognize the primacy of NATO over CENTO. Adopting as a premise the legal ascendency of NATO over CENTO, the second step is one of evaluating how Turkey and her CENTO partners have met the comparatively vague objectives of their association.