Turkish-American Relations, 1800-1952: Between the Stars, Stripes and the Crescent - Jefferson & Atatürk: Political Philosophies

To grasp the complex relationship between the two countries, it is useful to consult two recent publications focusing on Turkish-American relations. Şuhnaz Yılmaz’s Turkish-American Relations, 1800 1952: Between the Stars, Stripes and the Crescent offers a detailed overview of Turkish-American relations from the Ottoman era in 1800 (when the U.S. was just 24 years old) to 1952, when the Turkish Republic (in its 29th year) entered NATO, a milestone reflecting Türkiye’s acceptance into the global “West” both militarily and, arguably, culturally. Garrett Ward Sheldon’s Jefferson & Atatürk: Political Philosophies, a comparative work on the political philosophies of Thomas Jefferson—one of the founding fathers of the U.S.—and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Türkiye’s founding father, is a useful companion to Yılmaz’s work as it charts the similarities between the paths that both countries took to independence, by comparing their political philosophies.