The Turkish War of National Liberation and the Republican Period in Israeli History Textbooks

This article examines how the Turkish War of National Liberation and the Turkish Republic are treated in Israeli history textbooks published since 1948. The books recount the war and the treaty in a positive tone, stressing that Turkey was the only defeated country in World War I that successfully rejected the conditions originally imposed upon it. Mustafa Kemal's reforms are also depicted in a favorable light, and although the authoritarian traits of the regime come under criticism, they are regarded as a temporary measure intended to help consolidate the reforms. In the Cold War era, Turkey is shown as a country passively brought into the Western camp. Although the rise of the Democratic Party to power is interpreted as a sign of maturity for the new-fangled Turkish democracy, the coup in 1960 is presented as a result of corruption and restriction of freedom rather than a blow to democracy.