Turkey 1960 CE

What is happening in Turkey in 1960CE

In World War 1, the Ottoman empire fought on the side of the Central Powers. During the war, an estimated half a million Armenians, suspected of sympathizing with their Russian co-religionists, were massacred. Defeat was followed by the dismemberment of the empire.

In the post-war disorder, general Mustafa Kemal seized power. The sultanate was abolished (1922) and, the following year, Turkey was declared a republic, with Mustafa Kemal its first president. Kemal – now known as Kemal Ataturk (Father of the Turks) – established an authoritarian regime, and opted for secularism and modernization.

On Ataturk’s death in 1938, he left a stable country, and was deeply mourned. Turkey remained neutral during World War 2, and since the war, the threat posed by her giant neighbour to the north, the Soviet Union, has placed Turkey firmly in the western camp in the Cold War, being a member of NATO. This has led to massive military and economic aid from the USA, as well as to political liberalization, with restrictions on freedom being relaxed and multi-party parliamentary democracy being introduced.

Next map, Turkey in 2005