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Central Treaty Organization

The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), formerly known as the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) and also known as the Baghdad Pact, was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed on 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The alliance was dissolved on 16 March 1979.

For the NGO, see Middle East Treaty Organization.

Abbreviation

CENTO

24 February 1955

16 March 1979

Intergovernmental military alliance

Baghdad (1955–1958)
Ankara (1958–1979)

Eurasia

5 states

U.S. pressure and promises of military and economic aid were key in the negotiations leading to the agreement, but the United States could not initially participate. John Foster Dulles, who was involved in the negotiations as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, claimed that was due to "the pro-Israel lobby and the difficulty of obtaining Congressional Approval."[1] Others said that the reason was "for purely technical reasons of budgeting procedures."[2]


In 1958, the U.S. joined the military committee of the alliance.[3] It is generally viewed as one of the least successful of the Cold War alliances.[4]


The organization's headquarters was in Baghdad, Iraq from 1955 to 1958 and thereafter in Ankara, Turkey from 1958 to 1979. Cyprus was also an important location for CENTO due to the British military bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia along with the island’s location in the Middle East.[5]

  (since April 1955),

United Kingdom

  (until March 1959),

Iraq

  (November 1955 — March 1979),

Iran

  (September 1955 — March 1979),

Pakistan

 

Turkey

February 1954: signs a Pact of Mutual Cooperation with Pakistan.

Turkey

May 19, 1954: U.S. and Pakistan sign a Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement.

February 24, 1955: Iraq and Turkey sign a military agreement in Baghdad and the term "Baghdad Pact" started to be used. United Kingdom (April 5), Pakistan (September 23) and Iran (November 3) joined the Baghdad Pact in the same year.

[10]

October 1958: Baghdad Pact headquarters moved from Baghdad to Ankara.

March 5, 1959: U.S. signs military agreements with Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.

March 24, 1959: The new republican regime of Iraq withdrew the country from the alliance.

August 19, 1959: METO renamed CENTO.

[11]

1965: Pakistan tried to get help from its allies in its war against India. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 211 on September 20 and the United States and the United Kingdom supported the UN decision by cutting off arms supplies to both belligerents.[13]

[12]

1971: In a new war with India, Pakistan again tried unsuccessfully to get allied assistance. (The U.S. provided limited military support to Pakistan, but not under the rubric of CENTO.)

[14]

1974: The United Kingdom withdraws forces from the alliance following the .

Turkish invasion of Cyprus

March 11, 1979: The withdrew the country from CENTO.

Interim Government of Iran

March 12, 1979: Pakistan withdraws from CENTO.

March 16, 1979: CENTO is formally disbanded. United Kingdom and Turkey withdraws from CENTO.

CENTO railway[edit]

CENTO sponsored a railway line, some of which was completed, to enable a rail connection between London and Tehran via Van. A section from Lake Van in Turkey to Sharafkhaneh in Iran was completed and funded in large part by CENTO (mainly the UK). The civil engineering was especially challenging because of the difficult terrain. Part of the route included a rail ferry across Lake Van with a terminal at Tatvan on the Western side of the lake. Notable features of the railway on the Iranian side included 125 bridges, among them the Towering Quotor span, measuring 1,485 feet (453 m) in length, spanning a gorge 396 feet (121 m) deep.[17][18]

CENTO Conferences on Teaching Public Health and Public Health Practice

[19]

CENTO Cultural Works Programme

[20]

CENTO Institute of Nuclear & Applied Science

CENTO Scientific Coordinating Board

[21]

CENTO Scientific Council

CENTO Symposia on Rural Development[23]

[22]

ANZUS

Arab–Israeli alliance against Iran

Balkan Pact (1953)

Economic Cooperation Organization

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance

(IMCTC)

Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition

NATO

Regional Cooperation for Development

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

Lee, Sir David (1989). Wings in the sun: a history of the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean, 1945–1986. Air Force Dept. Air Historical Branch, Great Britain. Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Cohen, Michael J. "From ‘Cold’ to ‘Hot’ War: Allied Strategic and Military Interests in the Middle East after the Second World War." Middle Eastern Studies 43.5 (2007): 725–748.

Hashmi, Sohail H. "‘Zero Plus Zero Plus Zero’: Pakistan, the Baghdad Pact, and the Suez Crisis." International History Review 33.3 (2011): 525–544.

Jalal, Ayesha. "Towards the Baghdad Pact: South Asia and Middle East Defence in the Cold War, 1947–1955." International History Review 11.3 (1989): 409–433.

Kuniholm, Bruce R. The origins of the Cold War in the Near East: Great power conflict and diplomacy in Iran, Turkey, and Greece (Princeton University Press, 2014).

Podeh, Elie. The quest for hegemony in the Arab world: The struggle over the Baghdad Pact (Brill, 1995).

Yesilbursa, Behcet Kemal. The Baghdad Pact: Anglo-American Defence Policies in the Middle East, 1950–59 (2003).

Excerpt.

entry in Encyclopaedia Iranica

Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)

A film clip is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

"Baghdad pact. Unified Military Command Seen, 1958/01/30 (1958)"

on the US State Department's website.

CENTO