ABSTRACT
The thesis attempts to elaborate Yön, the weekly that had been published in the latter part of the sixties. Since Yön is known for having brought about lasting influence on Turkish intelligentsia and youth of the sixties, researchers, who aim to examine this period of Turkish politics, are required to spare considerable time for Yön. Although scores of studies on Yön have been published, it is hard to say that these studies directly dealt with Yön’s perspectives on foreign policy and world affairs. The study aims to recover this shortcoming revisiting the whole collection of the weekly giving due attention to their historical context.
The Yön that brought young yet influential left oriented intellectuals of the sixties together developed a critical approach to Turkey’s official foreign policy. They highlighted problems of Turkish economy that, they argued, had been induced by western imperialism. Yön columnists severely criticized Turkey’s political establishment on the grounds that they were acting as the agents of imperial policies and ignoring genuine interests of the majority. In order to cope with the problems of dependence, Yön group often suggested a radical foreign policy re-orientation for Ankara. Part and parcel of this re-orientation was the betterment of bilateral relations with the Soviet Union, which would run counter to or severely undermine official policy formulations.
The emerging third world, most notably the movement for non-aligned countries, was another aspect of changing world affairs that, the Yön group argued, Turkish foreign policy makers should take into consideration. They also underlined that, having fought the first war of independence against the western imperialists; it was Turkey’s liability to support anti-colonial wars all over the world and also that Turkey should draw lessons from their development strategies. The group therefore paid attention to anti colonial struggles all over the world and debated their relevance for Turkish case.
As a consequence, Yön group succeeded to initiate a lively foreign policy debate in which future concepts and approaches have been shaped.
