Foreign public engagement in the American-Turkish alliance, 1945-1953

This article examines why Turkey aligned rapidly and durably with the United States between 1945 and 1953. Beyond explanations centered on the Soviet threat and U.S. military and economic assistance, it assesses whether U.S. foreign public engagement, public diplomacy and cultural initiatives aimed at Turkish publics contributed to sustaining alignment. Using process tracing across three phases (1945-1947, 1948-1950, 1951-1953), the analysis connects specific engagement instruments (information broadcasting, cultural diplomacy and exchanges, public-opinion monitoring, and aid publicity) to changes in Turkish elite rhetoric, press narratives, and policy adoption. Evidence is drawn from newly released U.S. and Turkish archival records and contemporaneous media, triangulated with secondary scholarship and evaluated through structured process-tracing tests against rival accounts. The results indicate that material power and aid were necessary to enable alignment, but foreign public engagement reinforced it by widening domestic support and strengthening perceptions of U.S. credibility and long-term commitment. Its impact varied with contextual conditions, including a salient shared threat, identity compatibility with the West, a supportive media environment, visible economic benefits, and consistency between U.S. statements and actions. The study concludes that foreign public engagement can function as a complementary mechanism that consolidates security partnerships by shaping domestic legitimation and perceived reliability alongside hard-power incentives.