The Inconsistency of United States Foreign Policy in the Aftermath of the Cyprus Invasion: The Turkish Arms Embargo and its Termination

When Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, both NATO and United States interests were impacted. The United States adopted measures to preserve its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and maintain the cohesion of NATO's southern flank. But the U.S. Congress imposed an embargo on arms sales to Turkey. This had serious implications for American foreign policy and brought out the sharp divisions between the legislature and the executive branches over issues of enforcing regulations governing arms sales and the need to preserve national interests. An examination of the conflicting interests of all pertinent actors is revealing and exposes the "purposeful inconsistency" of U.S. foreign policy in this instance.