Operation Foot: Analysis of an Espionage Crisis Between The United Kingdom and The Soviet Union

Yıl 2024, Sayı: 54, 88 - 101, 30.08.2024

İbrahim Çağrı Erkul

https://doi.org/10.52642/susbed.1468309

Öz

In parallel with the development of diplomacy, diplomatic privileges and immunities have been guaranteed internationally. This has made it a common practice for espionage activities to be carried out by people with diplomatic immunity. This practice was reinforced in the Cold War when actors used diplomatic privileges and immunity as important tools in carrying out their espionage activities. With its wide diplomatic representation ability and intelligence services, the Soviet Union was one of the actors that used this tool best, the United Kingdom (UK), on the other hand, has been evaluated as a country where the Soviet Union achieved great success in the context of espionage activities. This article aims to reveal the causes and consequences of Operation Foot, dated 24 September 1971, which was the expulsion of 105 diplomats in the UK who were suspected of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union, during the premiership of Edward Heath. This article also tries to justify why people with diplomatic immunity carry out espionage activities. Operation Foot, which can be considered one of the most critical responses to the espionage activities carried out by the Soviet Union under diplomatic immunity, also made the UK a difficult target in terms of the Soviet Union's espionage activities. This operation is also valuable because it sets an example for other actors who suffered from the espionage activities of the Soviet Union. It should also be taken into account that Operation Foot had a real impact on the period of détente in the Cold War, and in this respect, it had a result beyond the bilateral relations of the Soviet Union with the UK.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Operation Foot, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Espionage, Diplomatic Immunity.

Foot Operasyonu: Birleşik Krallık ve Sovyetler Birliği Arasında Yaşanan Bir Casusluk Krizinin Analizi

Öz

Diplomaside yaşanan gelişmelere paralel olarak diplomatik ayrıcalıkların ve dokunulmazlığın uluslararası anlamda garanti altına alınması, casusluk faaliyetlerinin diplomatik misyon mensupları tarafından yapılmasını yaygın bir uygulama haline getirmiştir. Bu uygulama, Soğuk Savaş gerçekliği içerisinde aktörlerin casusluk faaliyetlerini gerçekleştirmelerinde diplomatik ayrıcalıklar ve dokunulmazlığı önemli birer araç olarak kullanmalarıyla pekişmiştir. Sovyetler Birliği, sahip olduğu geniş diplomatik temsil yeteneği ve istihbarat servisleriyle bu aracı en iyi kullanan aktörlerden biri olmuştur. Birleşik Krallık ise casusluk faaliyetleri bağlamında, Sovyetler Birliği’nin büyük başarılar elde ettiği bir ülke olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Birleşik Krallık’ta Sovyetler Birliği adına casusluk faaliyeti yaptığından şüphelenilen toplam 105 diplomatın Edward Heath’in başbakanlığı döneminde istenmeyen kişi ilan edilerek sınır dışı edilmesi hadisesi olan 24 Eylül 1971 tarihli Foot Operasyonu’nu nedenleri ve sonuçlarıyla ortaya koymayı amaçlayan bu makale, aynı zamanda casusluk faaliyetlerinin niçin diplomatik dokunulmazlık altında yapıldığını da gerekçelendirmeye çalışmıştır. Sovyetler Birliği’nin diplomatik dokunulmazlık altında gerçekleştirdiği casusluk faaliyetlerine verilmiş en önemli cevaplardan biri olarak kabul edilebilecek Foot Operasyonu, Birleşik Krallık’ı Sovyetler Birliği’nin casusluk faaliyetleri açısından zor bir hedefe dönüştürmüştür. Foot Operasyonu aynı zamanda Sovyetler Birliği’nin casusluk faaliyetlerinden mustarip olan diğer aktörlere örnek teşkil etmesi sebebiyle de kıymetlidir. Foot Operasyonu’nun Soğuk Savaş’ta yaşanan yumuşama dönemi üzerinde gerçek bir etki yaptığı ve bu yönüyle Sovyetler Birliği’nin Birleşik Krallık ile ikili ilişkilerinin ötesinde bir sonuç ortaya çıkardığı da dikkate alınmalıdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Foot Operasyonu, Birleşik Krallık, Sovyetler Birliği, Casusluk, Diplomatik Dokunulmazlık

Kaynakça

• Aldrich, R. (2006). Intelligence. Palgrave advances in Cold War history. Saki R. Dockrill and Geraint Hughes (Ed). Palgrave Macmillan, 210-239.
• Aldrich, R. J. (2010). GCHQ: The uncensored story of Britain's most secret intelligence agency. London: Harper Press.
• Andrew, C. & Gordievsky, O. (1990). KGB: the inside story of its foreign operations from Lenin to Gorbachev. Hodder & Stoughton.
• Andrew, C. (t.y.). Introduction to the later Cold War, https://www.mi5.gov.uk/the-later-cold-war
• Andrew, C., & Mitrokhin, V. (1999). The sword and the shield: the Mitrokhin archive and the secret history of the KGB. New York, Basic Books.
• Arı, T. (2004). Uluslararası ilişkiler ve dış politika. İstanbul: Alfa Yayınları.
• Armaoğlu, F. (2017). 20. yüzyıl siyasi tarihi 1914-1995. İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları.
• Bennett, G. (2013). Six moments of crisis: inside British foreign policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Bennett, G. (2018). The Zinoviev letter: the conspiracy that never dies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Campbell, J. (1993). Edward Heath: a biography. London: Jonathan Cape.
• Canberra Times, (1971a September 25) K.G.B. Man defects Britain expels 105 Russians. 1-1
• Canberra Times, (1971b October 11). Soviet expels Britons retaliation is seen as face-saving. 5-5.
• Canberra Times, (1971c October 4). Spy expulsions soviet staff get ready to leave. 4-4.
• Canberra Times, (1973 December 6). UK-USSR relations 'freeze' ends. 4-4.
• Canberra Times, (1974 February 5). Anniversary. 6-6.
• Canberra Times, (1985 September 20). Britain says no more spy retaliations. 6-6.
• Christopher, A. (2010). The defence of the realm: the authorized history of MI5. Penguin.
• Clarke, M. (1988). The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Peter Byrd (Ed.). British foreign policy under Thatcher, P. Allan/St. Martin's Press, 54-75.
• Erkul, İ. Ç. (2021). Birleşik Krallık dış politikası 1979 – 2020. Konya: Çizgi Kitabevi.
• Farhangi, L. S. (1986). Insuring against abuse of diplomatic immunity. Stanford Law Review, 38(6), 1517–1547.
• Freemantle, B. (1982). KGB. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
• Gaddis, J. L. (1989). Intelligence, espionage, and Cold War origins. Diplomatic History, 13(2), 191–212.
• Grant, R. G. (1989). MI5, MI6: Britain's security and intelligence services. New York: Gallery Books.
• Goldstein, J. S., Pevehouse, J. C. (2017). Uluslararası ilişkiler, Haluk Özdemir (çev), Ankara: BB101 Yayınları.
• Harvey, P. & Keatley, P. (1971 September 25). Britain expels 90 Russian diplomat spies. The Guardian. 1-1.
• Haskew, M. E. (2020, May 28). Spy no more. https://www.keymilitary.com/article/spy-no-more
• Heath, E. (1998). The course of my life: my autobiography. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
• Hughes, G. (2006). Giving the Russians a bloody nose’:1 Operation Foot and Soviet Espionage in the United Kingdom, 1964–71. Cold War History, 6(2), 229-249.
• Ioffe, A. (2004). Soviet Union (USSR), intelligence and security Lerner, K. L. & Lerner, B. W. (Ed.). Encyclopedıa of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Vol 3. Gale, 93-96.
• Jane, M. (2022). Rusya Federasyonu’nun güvenlik strateji belgeleri bağlamında Kırım ilhakı’nın tarihsel-sembolik ve askeri-jeopolitik analizi. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 15(2), 415−436.
• Kennedy, P. (2015). Büyük güçlerin yükseliş ve çöküşleri. Birtane Karanakçı (Çev.), İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
• Köken, E, & Gül, İ. (2020). Casusluk faaliyetleri ve uluslararası casusluk suçu (TCK m. 331). Çankaya Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, 5(1), 2179-2202.
• Kuzichkin, V. (1990). Inside the KGB: my life in Soviet espionage. New York: Pantheon Books.
• Macintyre, B. (2016 January 22). A purge of Putin’s spooks is long overdue, The Times, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-purge-of-putins-spooks-is-long-overdue-nvx05mqflfk
• MacShane, D. (2006). Heath. London: Haus Publishing.
• Milliyet, (1971a Eylül 25). İngilterede 90 Sovyet casusu tesbit edildi. 1-1.
• Milliyet, (1971b Eylül 27). Rus casusun Batıya kaçışının nedeni “Bir aşk hikayesi”. 1-1.
• Mulquenn, J. (2019). ‘An alien ideology’ Cold War perceptions of the Irish republican left. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
• Porter, B. (2021). Britain before Brexit historical essays on Britain and Europe. Bloomsbury Academic.
• Reçber, K. (2011). Diplomasi ve konsolosluk hukuku, Bursa: Dora.
• Rees, D. (1972 August 28). New assignments for KGB spies. Canberra Times, 2-2.
• Rendel, A. M. (1971 September 25). Britain orders out 105 Soviet officials. The Times, 35-35.
• Riehle, K. P. (2023). Soviet and Russian diplomatic expulsions: how many and why?, International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, 0(0): 1–26.
• Roskin, M. G. &Berry, N. O. (2014). Uluslararası ilişkiler: ui’nin yeni dünyası, Özlem Şimşek (Çev.), Ankara: Adres Yayınları.
• Sander, O. (2004). Siyasi tarih (1918-1994). İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları.
• Sanders, D. (1989). Losing an empire, finding a role an introduction to British foreign policy since 1945. Macmillan Education.
• Sarol, D. B. (1971 Eylül 26). 105 Rus İngiltere’den çıkarılıyor. Milliyet, 9-9.
• Serrill, M. S., Melville, F., & Ogden, C. (1985). Britain big blow to the KGB the top Soviet spy master in London defects to the West. TIME Magazine, 126(12), 38-38.
• Taylor, A. (2018 March 14). Britain’s expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats marks a return to Cold War ejections, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/14/britains-expulsion-of-23-russian-diplomats-marks-a-return-to-cold-war-ejections/
• Teagarden, E. M. (1998). The Cambridge five: the end of the Cold War brings forth some views from the other side. American Intelligence Journal, 18(1/2), 63–68.
• The New York Times, (1971 September 26). Soviet Union accuses Britain of stirring up hysteria in ordering expulsion of 105 Russians as spies, 14-14.
• Thomson, G. M. (1981). The prime ministers, from Robert Walpole to Margaret Thatcher. New York: William Morrow.
• TIME Magazine, (1971a). The spies who are out in the cold. 98(14), 49–50.
• TIME Magazine, (1971b). Spies: foot soldiers in an endless war. 98(15), 41-48.
• Trahair, R. C. S. & Miller, R. L. (2009). Encyclopedia of Cold War espionage, spies, and secret operations. Enigma Books.
• Tuncer, H. (2005). Eski ve yeni diplomasi, Ankara: Ümit Yayıncılık.
• Tzu, S. (2014). Savaş sanatı. Hasan İlhan (Çev.), Ankara: Alter Yayıncılık.
• UK Parliament, (1971 June 30). Soviet officials: expulsions and revisits. https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1975-06-30/debates/4a2ed805-c2f1-477a-b60d-0e59bb6632d2/SovietOfficialsExpulsionsAndRevisits
• Walton, C. (2022 March 16). Soviet espionage under the cover of diplomacy, https://www.thecipherbrief.com/soviet-espionage-under-the-cover-of-diplomacy#:~:text=In%20September%201971%2C%20the%20British,expulsion%20during%20the%20Cold%20War
• West, N. (1984). The circus: MIb5 soperations 1945-1972. New York: Stein and Day.
• West, N. (2005). Historical dictionary of British intelligence, The Scarecrow Press.
• West, N. (2006). Historical dictionary of international intelligence. The Scarecrow Press.
• Ziegler, P. (2010). Edward Heath: the authorised biography. London: HarperPress.