Nicholas Danforth, Georgetown University
The following documents provide a nice sample of the US State Department's approach to maintaining NATO unity in the 1950s without quite violating America's commitment to free speech. Both cases concern the publication or broadcast of material that might inflame Greek-Turkish-American relations, and in both cases the State Department did its best to manage the issue with a subtle alternative to censorship. This "discreet and friendly" approach didn't work in the case of "Ghost on Horseback," an Ataturk biography/novel (now available on Amazon for 88 cents) whose pages, according to reviewers, were filled with "purple prose" and "Kemal's conversations with mistresses, prostitutes, and a variety of non-descripts."
While the State Department was eager to prevent negative depictions of Turkey in the US press, it was also eager to downplay the history of Greek-Turkish hostility in order to maintain peace on NATO's southeastern flank. This led them to try to manage everything from the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul to a radio broadcast about the 100th anniversary of the YMCA.
RG 59 General Records of the Department of State. Misc Lot
Files, Lot File no 58 D 61, Subject Files relating to Turkey, Box 1. National Archives
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