Navigating the Tides of Change: Turkey’s Quest for United Nations Membership and the New World Order

This paper aims to shed light into Turkey’s political and diplomatic history by focusing on its efforts to join the United Nations (UN). The search for a new political system in Turkey coincided with the global quest for a new world order, initiated by the UN’s four founding members during the Second World War. After a brief discussion on the making of the UN and its predecessors, the paper delves into Turkey’s position during the war, followed by an analysis of the ruling elites’ perceptions as reflected in parliamentary debates and the contemporary national press coverage. Furthermore, the paper evaluates the influence of UN membership on the emergence of a multi-party system in Turkey and discusses how and why the change of the global political climate contributed to the transformation of the Turkish political system.