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Turkey’s Foreign Policy towards Iraq
53
The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990 was not only significant in the sense that
it represented the violation of sovereignty of an independent country by another independent
country, it was also important because it revealed the extent of the threat of repressive and
authoritarian regimes for bothhumanandglobal security. In this period, therewas an increasing
perception in Turkey that regimes that applied repressive measures to their own populations
could pose a danger not only to their own peoples and security but also to the peoples of the
region and even to the peoples of the world. In that respect, it would not be incorrect to state
that there was a growing awareness in Turkey’s decision makers’ minds that democratic states
were indispensable for achieving human and global security. It was undoubtedly a radical
change of perception for Turkey, which had not hitherto been interested in the domestic
affairs and types of regimes of other states. In fact, Turkey’s realization of the strong connection
between a state’s domestic affairs and its foreign relations could therefore be traced back to the
outbreak of the Gulf crisis, which makes Iraq a critical neighbour for Turkey.
In addition to this, the fact that the UN Security Council was unprecedentedly unified on
the issue of condemning Iraq’s actions and subsequently on the imposition of an economic
embargo to convince Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwaiti territories, was a crucial
factor that prevented Turkey from adopting a neutral stance vis-à-vis this crisis. In effect,
Turkey had always acted in conformitywith the general tendency and the dominant norms and
beliefs of international society ever since its foundation. In that sense, it was obvious that the
adoption of a neutral stance on the part of Turkey with respect to the Gulf crisis might trigger
the alienation and even the exclusion of Turkey from international society by endangering
its alliances. Here it is worth noting that Turkey felt the need to act in conformity with the
decisions of international powers not only through a sense of obligation, but also because of
a growing belief that the new world order was to be built on democracy and peaceful foreign
relations. In that sense, the intense discussions on the close connection between democracy
and world peace initially held in the Turkish Parliament were remarkable.
5
A
bandoning non
-
interference
This radical change in Turkey’s perception of the new nature of world politics on the
one hand and the unprecedented unified position of international society against Iraq on
the other paved the way for Turkey’s deviation from its non-interference policy in the wake
of the invasion. Within this scenario, the Gulf crisis represented a milestone in Turkey’s
foreign policy and a challenge that Turkey had not faced until then. Turkey’s deviation from
its non-interference policy was consolidated by its decision to take part in Operation Desert
Storm to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait by opening up Turkish air space and military bases
for use by the international coalition, as well as the transfer of a large number of armed
troops to its frontier with Iraq. In the post-Cold War period, Turkey would often come to
realize that it could not stay neutral in crises. In that sense, the Gulf Crisis was important
insofar as it constituted the first example of that realization.
5 The period both on the verge and in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War was characterized by intense
discussions in the Turkish Parliament. One of the most highly-charged debates took place on 20 January
1991. See
Turkish Grand National Assembly Official Reports
. Period. 18, Vol. 55, 20 January 1991, p. 373.