Central Treaty Organization


Central Treaty Organization

A former international organization consisting of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The United States was also involved peripherally. It was modeled after NATO and was intended to resist Soviet expansion into the Middle East and South Asia. It was largely unsuccessful in this mission; for example, Iraq left the organization after it opened diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1958. It was also known as CENTO and the Baghdad Pact. It existed from 1955 to 1979.