The Turkish-Arab dispute over unity projects 1958-1963 AD (Syria and Iraq as a model)

Abstract

The research dealt with the Turkish-Arab dispute over the unity projects 1958-1963 AD (Syria)Iraq is an example. The dispute between Turkey on the one hand and Syria and Iraq on the other hand over projects and borders during the period 1958-1963 greatly affected those unity projects on the political nature between Turkey, Syria and Iraq, as those unity projects were considered a threat to Turkish national security and threatened the interests of Western countries in Turkey, especially the United States of America, whose interests in the Middle East were affected by the unity projects, especially with the coincidence of the communist threat that it feared would control Syria and Iraq. Therefore, Turkey tried to pressure Syria and push it from carrying out the unity project with Egypt in 1958, and explicitly threatened Syria and warned it against taking that step. In return, the latter did not respond to Turkey’s warnings, which mobilized its armies on the Syrian border with the aim of pressuring it and making it in constant tension. However, those warnings and mobilizations did not bear fruit in Turkey’s favor, and Syria continued with the unity project with Egypt.

             These developments led to the occurrence of a tripartite union between Iraq, Syria and Egypt in 1963. Iraq, which was previously a member of a joint defense alliance with Turkey (the Baghdad Pact) that was established in 1955, became in a unionist alliance with Syria, which Turkey feared as it feared the establishment of a unified state on its borders that would threaten its security. Although Turkey tried to prevent this union, it later came to the conviction that this union was just ink on paper after it realized the differences that arose between the union countries and was satisfied with reducing tension. The Syrian side also claimed that its policy was neutral, which is evidence of its good intentions towards Turkey and its government. As for the Iraqi side, it witnessed major political developments that ended with the deterioration of its relationship with Turkey after it had been in a regional alliance with it, and this ultimately led to the implementation of the union that Turkey was afraid of, and it wanted to distance Iraq from any unity projects.