ATATURK’S FOREIGN MINISTER TEVFIK RUSTU ARAS

Abstract

Tevfik Rüştü Aras is one of the most influential statesmen in Turkish political life. Turkey and the world were passing through a very critical period during Aras’ ministry. Turkish foreign policy was shaped by Atatürk’s perspective that was “Peace at home, Peace in the world” but it was not so easy to implement in world politics. Specifically, Turkey’s affair with United Kingdom (UK) was a determining factor in Turkish foreign policy. The inter-war period led to the emergence of fascist and ultra-nationalist movements in Europe. Tevfik Rüştü Aras achieved to nationalize Dardanelles and Bosporus in favor of the dynamics of balance of power in Europe with The Montreux Straits Convention. Atatürk who was a founder of the Turkish Republic predicted that the new world war would come up in a very short time. Thus, Atatürk and his foreign minister Tevfik Rüştü Aras believed that Turkey could only protect her national security and borders with regional pacts. Furthermore, these regional pacts would have the potential to make progress to avoid a new global war. This study aims to enlighten briefly Aras’ foreign ministry period and put important approaches to his policies that can be inspirations for current regional problems. During this study, important newspapers and magazines, as well as archival documents, books, and articles were benefited from.