TURKEY’S EFFORT TO KEEP THE BALKAN ENTENTE INTACT AND THE TURKISH-GREEK ALLIANCE QUESTS AGAINST ITALIAN-BULGARIAN REVISIONIST POLICIES

32788

When the “Versailles Treaty Order” in the Balkans started to “toss” because of the Italian and Bulgarian revisionist and revanchist policies, the Balkan countries started to seek a wider regional alliance, in order to protect their common borders and maintain the geopolitical status quo in the region following World War I. The Balkan Entente signed on 9 February 1934 between Greece, Turkey, Rumania and Yugoslavia, was the result of that quest, with Greece and Turkey the pioneers of that effort. The aim of that treaty was to force a united front against Bulgarian and Italian threats, with the signatories agreeing not to engage in any negotiation or agreement with third parties, without the prior consultation of the Balkan Entente. Yugoslavia though, right after Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, breached that principle by adopting a policy of rapprochement with Italy and Bulgaria and by signing a Friendship and a Non-Aggression Agreement with those two countries. These developments undermined the very foundations of the Entente and forced, in particular, Turkey and Greece to face the unpleasant new reality. Specifically, Turkey embarked on intense diplomatic negotiations in a desperate attempt to retain the Balkan alliance, searching at the same time for an alternative alliance with Greece. This study aims to examine Turkey’s efforts to keep the Balkan alliance intact while at the same time it examines the simultaneous Turkish-Greek search for an alternative alliance to the Balkan Entente.

537

The Balkan Entente , Turkey , Greece , Bulgaria , Italia , Yugoslavia , Revisionism

Celal Bayar University Journal Of Social Sciences

578

Celal Bayar University Journal Of Social Sciences