As seen through the eyes of New York Times: a narration of the 1960 Turkish coup

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1819765 (Table of Contents)

Following recent political events in Turkey, many have questioned the objectivity or nonpartisanship of American reporting on foreign, specifically Turkish, political events. With this question lying at the heart of our research, this thesis examines the New York Times’ representation of Turkish politics over a two-year period, capturing the year before and after the 27 May 1960 military coup. Before delving into the analysis, we review the more comprehensive question of American media’s foreign coverage, specifically within the Cold War context, to understand how our research fits within this field. Employing a total of 114 articles, we divide the analysis into two chapters: the precoup period (May 1959 to 26 May 1960) and the post-coup period (27 May 1960 to September 1961). Within these two chapters, we identify themes in Turkish-American relations and characterizations of political actors, events, and issues to compare them with historical sources. After careful analysis of the articles’ content, we argue that the subjectivity displayed in the NYT is predominantly deliberate and motivated by the desires to maintain a Turkish alliance and to promote a positive image of the U.S. military.