Central Treaty Organization
The Central Treaty Organization (abbreviated CENTO , Germanized Central Pact Organization , also known as the Baghdad Pact , 1955 to 1959 Middle East Treaty Organization , METO ) was a military alliance that existed from 1955 to 1979. Members were Great Britain , Iraq , Iran , Pakistan and Turkey . The USA had observer status. Conceived as a pure defense alliance, the political goal of the CENTO was to contain the influence of the Soviet Union in the member countries. In 1979 the CENTO was dissolved after political changes in the member states.
history
CENTO was a purely defense alliance and was signed by Iraq and Turkey on February 24, 1955 . At first it was also referred to as the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO). In the same year the United Kingdom (April 5), Pakistan (September 23) and Iran (November 3) joined. By signing bilateral agreements with Turkey, Pakistan and Iran, the USA became a de facto member in 1958, officially with observer status.
The CENTO, which is often compared to NATO , did not have a uniform command structure as there is in NATO. There were also no military bases maintained by the USA or Great Britain in the member states .
On July 14, 1958, there was a military coup in Iraq that led to the abolition of the monarchy. The new government under General Abd al-Karim Qasim realigned its foreign policy, established diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union and in 1959 terminated Iraq's membership in the CENTO. As a direct consequence, the CENTO headquarters was relocated from Baghdad to Ankara in Turkey.
In 1965 and 1972 Pakistan applied for military assistance in the war against India . The member countries rejected both cases because they classified the war between Pakistan and India as a local conflict.
Although the political influence of the Soviet Union in the member countries was curbed, the Soviet Union systematically expanded its influence in the Middle East through bilateral treaties with Egypt , Syria , Iraq, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen , Somalia and Libya . At the beginning of the 1970s, 20,000 Soviet military advisers , trainers and specialists were stationed in Egypt. Others were on military bases in Syria, Somalia and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.
After the Islamic Revolution , Iran declared its exit on March 13, 1979 and joined the Movement of Non-Aligned States . The German ambassador to Pakistan, Scheske, reported on February 25, 1979:
“The USSR … urges Pakistan to give up the CENTO alliance and join the non-aligned. She is also trying to gain a political foothold in the country. "
On March 13, 1979, Pakistan's Foreign Minister announced in a press conference that Pakistan would end its membership in February 1980.
On March 16, 1979, the Turkish government announced that it would dissolve the CENTO pact in view of the exit declarations by Iran and Pakistan.
In 1992 the heads of state of the Turkic states wanted to revive a defense alliance in the tradition of the CENTO as part of the Central Asia Summit of the Turkish Republics ( OATCT ), which was founded in Ankara . The final realization of this defensive alliance ultimately failed because of opposition from Uzbekistan , which for its part feared that Turkey would have too great an influence in Central Asia .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Guy Hadley: CENTO: The Forgotten Alliance. ISIO Monographs, University of Sussex, UK 1971, p. 2.
- ↑ Michael Ploetz, Tim Szatkowski: Files on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany 1979 Vol. I: January to June 30, 1979. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2010, p. 84.
- ↑ Michael Ploetz, Tim Szatkowski: Files on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany 1979 Vol. I: January to June 30, 1979. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2010, p. 30f.