Abstract:

Turkey, the only independent Turkish state of the 20th century, was at the point of preserving the cultural assets of Turks living outside of Turkey, protecting minority rights or obtaining independence, a number of responsibilities were brought to Turkey. In this direction, the knowledge of the problems of the Turkish people living outside of Turkey in the Turkish public and the taking of steps in this direction in the Turkish foreign policy was important in the realization of the said mission. After World War II, the Soviet Union spread into a very broad geography and placed the communist ideology here. The world states were divided into blocks, including the West and the East. In 1959, the Prisoners’ Week was declared in the United States, and it was proclaimed the independence of the nations under Soviet imperialism. With this development, the issue of foreign Turks in Turkey, located in the Western Block, began to be processed on a wider platform. The illuminates interested in this issue said that the colonialism in Asia and Africa has ended, and that the Turkish people have come to the head of the communities that have not won independence, saying that the Prisoner Nations Week should be celebrated as the Prisoner Turkish Week in Turkey. With the Prisoners’ Week, the Turkish community gained the opportunity to recognize the Turkish communities living outside of Turkey. Every year, the third week of July, the Turks living outside of Turkey were left. Therefore, when the topical newspapers and magazines are examined, the developments in the Turkish world during the Cold War period, the view of the Turkish public on the subject and the policies followed towards foreign Turks in Turkish foreign policy can be learned. The aim of this study is to reveal the issue of foreign Turks in the Turkish public and foreign policy within the framework of the events of the Prisoners’ Week in Turkey.