ABSTRACT
Most accounts of Turkey-US relations maintain that the significant political changes near Turkey's borders in 1979 gave rise to security concerns in Ankara which compelled Turkish leaders to close ranks again with their Western allies and to strengthen their defence co-operation and consultation with the US. The clearest sign of this change in Turkish policy, it is noted, was the signing of a new Defense and Economic Co-operation Agreement (DECA) after the quick settlement of very important controversies. The position that Congress takes on aid requests is likely to have a profound effect on future United States-Turkish relations and US interests in the eastern Mediterranean. The Turkey-US relationship concur with the view that in the beginning of the 1980s overall 'the graveness of the external environment in Southwestern Asia helped reconfirm for Turkish governments the continuing relevance of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and in particular the special security relationship with the US'.
