ABSTRACT
The 1991 Gulf War and Turkey's participation in it represented a turning point for Turkish foreign policy toward the Middle East. It was also a critical turning point within the context of US- Turkey relations but not only for the reasons that were discussed at the time of the war and subsequently. In sum the mainstream analysis of Turkish foreign policy during the Gulf War maintains that Turkey's decision to co-operate with the US should be attributed almost exclusively to President Ozal, who as has been remarked dominated Turkish policy-making during the Gulf crisis and himself alone deserved any credit or criticism derived from it. At the end of the Cold War the US was faced with a colossal debt and huge budget deficits. It was for a good reason that the Gulf War was financed mainly by the Arab Gulf states, Germany and Japan.
