“Geopolitical Interests of the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation in the South Caucasus Region”
Students Name: Rudenko Anhelina
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: International Relations
Institute: Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Mode of Study: part
Academic Year: 2021-2022 н.р.
Language of Defence: ukrainian
Abstract: Today, two geopolitical strategies are being implemented in the South Caucasus: Eurasianism and Atlanticism. The South Caucasus occupies an important geopolitical and geo-economic position and is endowed with strategic importance from both the Turkish and Russian points of view. It opens or blocks access for many important non-regional players interested in oil and gas. This region connects Turkey with Central Asia and is a buffer zone of the Russian Federation, which seeks to avoid the existence of NATO countries on its borders because this violates its national security. Security issues and the interests of the players in the region in military-technical cooperation between the countries are manifested in connection with the three conflicts in the region: Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia. This makes the constant search for new allies and the need to create alliances urgent. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict gives both countries room for maneuver and tools to spread their influence by supporting one of the parties. The work determines the geopolitical significance of the region in its geostrategic location. It should be noted that the energy factor is a key factor in the integration of the South Caucasus and the reason for the interest of Western countries in it, which intensifies the dialogue with Ankara and supports the democratic initiatives of the South Caucasus countries. The key problem in this situation is the divergence of the policies of Russia and the West. Study object is the geopolitical priorities of the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation towards the countries of the South Caucasus and their relations with Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. Scope of research is the influence of Turkey and Russia on the development of the South Caucasus countries, as well as the result of the influence of such relations on Turkish-Russian relations. Goal of research is to study how the interests of the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation are formed, manifested, and influence the development of the South Caucasus region. In this master’s qualification work, the historiography of the study of the problems of the formation of geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus has been worked out, including domestic and foreign sources. As a result, it was determined that analysts considered this issue separately for each country in the region, but in recent years they began to comprehensively investigate this. The works of A. Aslanli, E.R. Branch, O. Volovich, D. Matsaberidze, S. Minasyan, F. Ozbay, G. Oskanyan, D. Trenina and others. Researchers pay a lot of attention to the problems of the region, conflicts in which each of the countries is involved, and they also offer their own variant of balancing between East and West, which are presented by Russia and Turkey. The tendencies of political dialogue based exclusively on trade and economic relations on cooperation in the region have been determined. It also describes cooperation in the field of energy and its impact on the development of relations, which is key in the South Caucasus and allows us to determine the geopolitical significance of the South Caucasus, which is significant even outside the region. Analyzed as the manifesting interests of the players in the region in military-technical cooperation between the countries of the South Caucasus. The formation of the dimension of security and balance in the region, the issues of its violation and maintenance, and the impact of conflicts on relations between governments are considered. The influence of the interests of the parties on the development of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the positions of states, and the support of the parties were studied separately. Analyzed how the relations between Turkey and Russia with the countries of the region affect the development of Turkish-Russian relations. The problems of relations have been identified and the ways of further cooperation have been forecasted not only between the countries of the South Caucasus with the involvement of Turkey and Russia but also between the Republic and the Federation separately. In particular, the possibility of the outbreak of new conflicts in the region, the potential development of further cooperation, and further development of Turkish-Russian relations in the South Caucasus. Key words: geopolitics, geopolitical interests, Turkey, Russia, South Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Caspian Sea, NATO. References. 1. Тренин, Д. (2019). Контурная карта российской геополитики: возможная стратегия Москвы в Большой Евразии. Карнеги Центр Москва. Available from: https://carnegie.ru/2019/02/11/ru-pub-78328 2. Branch, A.M. (2018). Armenia and the South Caucasus: A New Security Environment. Connections, 17(2), 47-60. 3. Oskanian, K. (2012). Turkey’s global strategy: Turkey and the Caucasus. LSE Research Online, Available from: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/43497