Suchergebnisse

Turkish naval policy during the period between the establishment of the Turkish Republic & WWII was influenced by a set of institutional, domestic, & international factors. Until the mid-1930s, domestic political rivalry & Turkish military culture relegated the navy to a secondary role in support of the army for territorial defense. Because of the new republic's international isolation, naval policy was shaped largely in a diplomatic vacuum. Ankara gradually tried to take advantage of emerging great power rivalries in Europe to secure affordably priced naval arms. In the process, politically unsatisfied powers such as Germany & Italy figured prominently as suppliers of naval arms to Turkey. After 1934, changing international political & economic conditions weighed more heavily than domestic factors in setting the parameters of Turkish naval policy. The armaments program adopted in 1934 provided for naval expansion to counter the Italian threat in the Aegean. This shift of emphasis is in naval policy also reflected Turkey's changing international status from an 'outcast' to a pro-status quo power. However, the coming of the WWII denied Turkey the chance to build the fleet envisaged under its new naval program. Adapted from the source document.

Studies the political & strategic motives behind Italy's decision to sell naval arms to Turkey under favorable credit terms, 1929-1932. The era was marked by vacillating Italian-Turkish relations as Italy changed strategies from colonial expansion into Turkey to winning the cooperation of the Turkish navy in dominating the Eastern Mediterranean. Following the patterns of British & German dealings with the Ottoman Empire, Italy sought to penetrate Turkey politically & militarily through its arms trade. After Mussolini's notorious 1934 speech outlining Italian expansion into Africa & Asia, Turkey's attitude toward Italy cooled, & Turkey increased its efforts to build a naval fleet. It is speculated that Italy's strategy would have been ineffective, regardless of the change in relations, because Turkey had adopted a strategy of avoiding military alliances between powers of unequal strength (Deringil, 1989). Ironically, warships purchased from Italy were used to counter Italy's threat. L. A. Hoffman

This article unfolds in three sections. In the first section, we give a brief history of military aviation in Turkey, including Turkey's efforts to develop an indigenous aircraft industry; in order to understand Turkey's involvement in the F-35 program, it is crucial to understand Turkey's desire to build a fully indigenous combat aircraft. Second, we give a timeline of Turkey's inclusion in the F-35 program and discuss the motives and goals behind Turkey's involvement in the JSF. Finally, we address the ebbs and flows in the Turkish approach to the entire JSF program in parallel to the rapidly changing international context, the cost overruns, and the extent of work-share secured for Turkish industries. Adapted from the source document.