The Diplomacy of Turkey in The Balkans During Atatürk Period (1923 -1930)

Abstract

This article examines the development of Turkey's foreign policy towards the Balkans during the years between 1923 and 1930. It is the most comprehensive research conducted in this field up until no w. It analyses the reasons for a drastic change occurred on Turkey's policy towards the Balkans in this era. This study identifies two distinct periods as for as the topic is concerned. While the first period contains the years 1923-1925 the second period covers the years between 1925 and 1930. In the first period Turkey's foreign policy focused on the recovery of Western Thrace where a vast majority of its inhabitants were Turkish origin. As for the second period Turkey's foreign policy is mainly concentrated on the solution of the various problems remained between Turkey and the Balkan States. This study is based on vast amount of British archival materials and published Turkish documents as well as on the secondary sources available both in Turkish and English.