Atatürk and Foreign Policy

Abstract

As in many subjects, Atatürk showed an exemplary manner in the foreign policy he followed. During the National Struggle, he tried to reach his goals by carrying out the war with diplomacy by causing the least harm to the country and the people. In the years following the National Struggle, it has paid special attention to establishing and maintaining peace in the country and in the world with its rational policy that it pursues both inside and outside. The National Struggle period, by nature, had some features compared to the peace period. The aim was to establish new national borders, to establish a "fully independent" state within these borders and to have it accepted in the new world. While doing this, the point that Mustafa Kemal emphasized diligently was to ensure that these targets, which are desired to be achieved, can be achieved with minimum damage. The main theme of the post-National Struggle period in foreign policy was the maintenance of peace. Measures to ensure internal peace could only be achieved by maintaining external peace. After stating this point in this way, let's try to elaborate on the aims and principles of the foreign policy that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk followed during the National War and in the period after that.