Turkey and the Gulf War, 1991: Reactions to the Imposition of Adventurism in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey

One of the first serious international developments of the post-Cold War era occurred in the 1991 Gulf War. The Gulf War has taken on the character of a war that served the interests of the United States's Middle East policy, and in this process, the US had various demands from Turkey, the country in the region, and its President, Ozal. This article presents an analysis of efforts aimed at persuading a highly competent person in Turkey's administration not to engage in armed action, while also addressing fierce opposition to the war from opposition parties and the bureaucracy. This study tries to explain both the fulfillment of a dream and the complete ignorance of the opposition by President Ozal and the government under his control in the struggle between fantasy and reality. In the face of the attempts to introduce a major change in the basic tenets of the traditional Turkish Foreign Policy, the article focuses more on the political reactions, including which powerful arguments were provided by the opposition against the hawkish.