Cold War Aviation: American Technology Transfer and the Construction of Turkey's First International Civilian Airport in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, 1944-1953

Abstract

With the economic and political support of the United States, in July 1947, Turkey signed contracts withthe Westinghouse Electric International Company and J.G. White Engineering Corporation to constructits first international civilian airport, Istanbul'sYe & scedil;ilk & ouml;y Airport. As this article will argue, the buildingof Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y (1949-53), through a partnership with two American engineering firms, is essentially anearly Cold War narrative of transnational exchange involving the multidirectional flow of technicalknowledge, expertise and resources between the United States and Turkey; the circulation of geopol-itically significant (and frequently competing) military, civilian and government actors; and thelocal and global implications of these transmissions. Yet the Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y construction narrative also illus-trates how post-war technology transfer was a highly political process of constant adaptation, modifi-cation and negotiation. Fraught with unforeseen friction and thorny challenges, Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y exemplifiesthe complicated American Cold War strategy of creating and maintaining alliances through engineeringknowledge, personnel and practices, often with unintended consequences. Moreover, as a case study,Ye & scedil;ilk & ouml;y opens a new window into the cautious science diplomacy that occurred along the IronCurtain, while filling a notable historiographic gap with respect to aviation in early Cold War Turkey.