Ancak, ulusun hayatı tehlikeye girmedikçe, savaş bir cinayettir - Unless a nation's life faces peril, war is murder (By Mustafa Kemal Atatürk)

 

Staying neutral during the Second World War was an art form that Türkiye managed to master through clever diplomacy. It would take until February 1945 when the country finally declared war on Nazi Germany and Japan, and even then no Turkish troops actually took part in the remainder of World War II. In fact, Türkiye's late entry into the war was little more than a formality after the Allies conditioned Türkiye's full belligerency in order to be invited to the United Nations. This no-show was undoubtedly much to the dismay of the British, who had actually expected Türkiye to declare war on Germany already on the 28th of October 1940, when Italy launched its invasion of Greece.