Understanding Turkey's attitude towards the dispute in Palestine from late 1947 to early 1949

Turkey was among the countries that refused the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine which was put to vote on 29 November 1947, and this was celebrated by many Arab governments. Nevertheless, Turkey would be also the first Muslim-majority country to recognize the State of Israel on March 1949. This article explores these two seemingly contradictory decisions and the various aspects of the government's attitude throughout the process that stretches from late 1947 to early 1949. Using predominantly Turkish primary sources, including some recently declassified diplomatic correspondences, we indicate that Turkish policy was formed by considering several factors simultaneously. These factors include the efforts to maintain friendly relations with the Arab countries, growing integration with Western countries, as well as fear of Soviet expansionism and of an eventual communist Jewish state. Through this perspective and exploring relevant documents of the period, we argue that the change which occurred in less than sixteen months does not really mean a major policy shift, that Turkey never fully supported the Arab thesis, and that it always avoided being at odds with the USA and Britain.