Amerikan Yakın Doğu yardım komitesi ve komitenin ABD`nin Anadolu politikası üzerindeki etkileri (1915-1923)

Abstract

Near East Relief Committee was established by American missionaries in order to aid Armenians after their exile by Ottoman Authorities. The Committee, which provided aid between 1915-1930 in Anatolia, Caucasia, Syria and the Balkans collected 116 million dollars and distributed over 100 million dollars. Near East Relief Committee tried to shape the Near East policy of the U.S.A to sustain its own activities easily even after the armistice and to include the U.S.A into the war and tried to affect the U.S.A authorities by using public support. The Committee also tried to get the U.S.A to adopt its policy with the help of close relationship with politics. It prevented the U.S.A from declaring war upon Ottoman Empire as a result of the efforts on affecting U.S.A authorities. Authorities of the Committee aimed at getting the U.S.A to obtain mandate over the said region so that their efforts in post-war period would not fell through. As a result they had a major role in giving shape to King-Crane and Harbord Reports. Activities of the Committee mostly focused on meeting the basic needs of Armenians who suffered from war, providing health services for them, gathering the Armenian orphans in need of care and training them. President of the Committee James Levi Barton stated that they had not made religious or racial discrimination and there had been people from all kinds of religion and race at the camp. However these appeared to be so-called statements and it was clear that there was religious and racial discrimintion.As a matter of fact an American historian confirmed that the Muslum population had benefited from only %2 of the aid. Although the Committee was an aid organization, it provided food, gun and money for Armenian army by joining political activities. It also introduced Turkish people as `terrifying Turks persecuting poor Armenians` to the Americans through making propaganda against Turks while collecting aid in the U.S.A.