Reporting the Saadabad Pact: Turkish and Soviet Press Perspectives, 1937

This article examines how the Turkish and Soviet press reported the signing of the Saadabad Pact by Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey in 1937. The principal sources for this study are leading Soviet newspapers (“Pravda” and “Komsomolskaya Pravda”) and prominent Turkish dailies (“Cumhuriyet”, “Akşam”, “Ulus”, and “Tan”). Employing content analysis, the article identifies two distinct patterns in the coverage found in the press of the Soviet Union and the Turkish Republic. On the one hand, both Moscow and Ankara sought to underscore the pact’s significance for preserving peace in the Middle East. On the other, the near silence of the Soviet press reflects the unease with which the Soviet authorities viewed the treaty’s conclusion. The signing of the Saadabad Pact marked a consolidation of Turkey’s relations with its neighbours, in keeping with President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s policy of “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” (Yurtta sulh, cihanda sulh). Through their coverage of the pact’s signature, the Kemalist newspapers employed characteristic propaganda strategies that shaped the portrayal of Turkey’s relations with neighbouring states throughout the 1930s.