The Dark History of the U.S. Spy School in Ankara Is Exposed… Trojans: 40 Key Questions

Linked to the notorious 'Cosmic Room' raid and located inside the sealed-off military zone of Balgat, the Ankara American High School operated between 1957 and 1985. Its yearbooks, long hidden from the public eye, now resurface as unique witnesses to Cold War intrigues, offering clues to Turkey's political and social transformations.

Published under Hayat Publishing's 'Deşifre X Books' series with editorial guidance from journalist Kamuran Akkuş, Köprülü's Trojans: 'The American Spy School in Ankara' (Trojans: Ankara'da ABD Ajan Okulu) emerges alongside journalist Ahmet Dinç's Bozkürt: The Hidden Story of Nationalist Kurds – Biji Türkiye (Bozkürt: Ülkücü Kürtlerin Saklı Kalmış Hikyesi – Biji Türkiye). Both works shed light on Turkey's modern history with bold revelations.

Köprülü recounts how, while examining the file of a classic Chevrolet in a Tandoğan car dealership in 2006, he stumbled upon the name of Jack E. Daseler, the founding director of the secretive school. From there, he unearthed internal yearbooks spanning 1958–1980, chronicling the lives of students known as 'Trojans'—the Americans' own metaphorical Trojan Horses in Turkey.

Supported by JUSMMAT (the U.S. Military Aid Mission to Turkey) and operating under TUSLOG Detachment 30, the school was more than an educational institution. During the Cold War, it functioned as a hub for U.S. political operations in Turkey and the broader region, tied to CENTO, NATO logistics, and intelligence networks.

FROM THE FOREWORD…

'Trojans,' or 'Trojan Horses,' was the name given to the American school established in Ankara in 1957. In 1958, the administration of schools under the U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) took over the education of American children from the Ankara American Educational Association School.

Located in Balgat, within the TUSLOG Detachment 30 base affiliated with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and supported by the Joint American Military Mission for Aid to Turkey (JAMMAT), the Air Force Dependents School was founded in 1957. It declared the 1957–1958 academic year the 'Year of the Trojans,' and its students were also called 'Trojans.'

During the Cold War, this American school—often referred to in its yearbooks as 'Trojans High School'—was far more than an educational institution. It became a center from which the United States directed its political operations in Turkey and across the region.

(…)

The American School yearbooks from 1958 through the 1980s are like a journey through time… In this book, we also briefly touch upon the events that unfolded after Turkey, in the wake of World War II, sought to escape the Soviet threat only to find itself ensnared in the American 'trap.'

With the wish that we may all live in peace and health—without falling into any 'Trojan Horse' traps…

Among the figures tied to the school were U.S. Ambassador Fletcher Warren, JUSMMAT General A. Mead, and even a mysterious Turkish officer, Colonel Kamil Homriş, who later taught French to Abdullah Öcalan at Ankara's Cadastre Vocational School. The book also discloses CIA-linked operatives, Peace Corps infiltrations, and surprising details—such as George W. Bush and his wife Laura attending the school's Alumni Day in 1978, decades before Bush's official 'first visit' to Turkey in 2004.

With meticulous documentation—thousands of pages of archival materials, photographs, and testimonies—Trojans reveals how an institution disguised as a 'high school' became one of the Cold War's most strategic Trojan Horses planted in Ankara.

Buy it now on Amazon.com.

Buy it now on Kitapyurdu.com

40 QUESTIONS ON 'TROJANS'

1. What was the secret behind the 1952 model classic white Chevrolet exhibited at the gallery in Ankara Tandoğan?
2. How could the American school send a 'command-request' letter to the Ankara Traffic Directorate?
3. What traces did the school's founding principal Jack E. Daseler leave behind? What secrets were hidden in his car and in the yearbooks?
4. Why did the U.S. Air Forces in Europe take over the education of American children in Ankara in 1956?
5. With what kind of support was the AHS school established at the TUSLOG DET-30 base in Balgat, and how did it name its first students?
6. By whose orders, and how, was the 7th Adana İncirlik Base established as a fait accompli? What were the functions of JAMMAT and JUSMMAT in Turkey? How was the American school connected to this military structure?
7. Who was the diplomat that prevented Turkey's intervention in Cyprus in 1964 with the 'Johnson Letter,' and what was his function at the school?
8. Which ambassador introduced the goal of 'bringing Turks closer to American culture'? What geopolitical importance did this hold in the context of the Cold War?
9. How did the seizure and closure of 21 American bases in Turkey on July 25, 1975 affect Turkish-American relations?
10. Were the American schools merely educational institutions, or were they secret intelligence centers of the Cold War?
11. Who was the first female CIA agent in Ankara? How did she weave her schemes around Turkey after coming because of 'heartbreak'?
12. Could the connections between the American school administrators and CENTO and TUSLOG be seen as evidence of organized military logistics and intelligence networks?
13. When did the Greater Middle East Project (GMEP) begin, and what was its connection to AHS?
14. How did the presence of a general who bombed Germany, CIA agents, and coup-plotting generals in the school's administration affect the debate on whether the school was a military base or an educational institution?
15. How did Ankara in the 1950s take on the appearance of a 'little America'?
16. How did venues like the Missouri Restaurant and Washington Restaurant create an 'American dream' atmosphere in Ankara of the era?
17. Why were AHS students labeled 'Trojans,' i.e., 'Trojan Horses'? Was the school's 'Trojan Horse' symbol a metaphor for the U.S. strategic presence in Turkey?
18. What role did the school play in the emergence of 'American-style' social life in Ankara during the 1950s? How did New Year's balls, fast food restaurants, and automobiles spark cultural change?
19. What was the function of the mysterious Colonel Kamil Homriş in the school's administration?
20. Who was the mysterious colonel who taught French at Tapu Kadastro High School, where terrorist leader Öcalan studied?
21. What was the connection between Öcalan's retired colonel teacher at Tapu Kadastro High School and the American school?
22. What was Ambassador Warren's connection with the school, and how did he start the 'anti-communism' process in Turkey after Latin America?
23. What role did JUSMMAT General A. Mead play behind the scenes of CENTO, and how did he influence Turkish-American relations?
24. Why did İnönü's son-in-law Metin Toker visit the American school?
25. What was OSI's role in Ankara?
26. Which was the only strike supported by both the police and the military, and what was its connection with JUSMMAT?
27. How was it possible for a photograph of Lenin to be hung on the wall of AHS during the peak of anti-communist operations?
28. What was the British Ambassador—who toppled Qasim in Iraq—doing at AHS?
29. What was the secret behind the intense traffic between the American School and CENTO?
30. Who was Nurten Dumlu, and why did she become such a special name for the Americans?
31. What were George W. Bush and his wife Laura doing in Ankara in 1978?
32. How did American school students support the Peace Corps volunteers who drew a 'religion and sect map' of Anatolia?
33. What public relations strategies did American school students use to strengthen relations with Turkish society?
34. Which plane crash shook the school?
35. Why did the American school come to be called the 'Fortress' in the 1960s?
36. How did Americans influence the birth of Yenimahalle district?
37. What once stood on the site of Atakule, and why did Americans make it their haunt?
38. How did the 68 years of secrets hidden in the AHS yearbooks reveal the 'invisible hand' in Turkish-American relations?
39. What 'Trojan' plans for Turkey's future were American schools a part of?

40. What was the connection between the American school and the Greater Middle East Project (GMEP)?

    Buy it now on Amazon.com.

    Buy it now on Kitapyurdu.com