Turkey-Russia Relations in the Twenty-First Century: Cooperation and Competition amid Systemic Turbulence.

• Author: Asmar, Ahmed

Turkey-Russia Relations in the Twenty-First Century: Cooperation and Competition amid Systemic Turbulence

By Muhammet Kocak

Lexington Books, 2022, 180 pages, $95.00, ISBN: 9781666915730

The relation between Turkiye and Russia is an active topic that attracts many scholars and writers to attempt to shed light on such developing relations. Both countries have a significant amount of interest over important regions and share a mutual engagement in resolution efforts to solve conflicts, which the Western powers have failed to solve or address in a proper way. The successes of both countries in addressing hot conflicts, especially the one in Syria and the 3-decade-long Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia, have given an international dimension and recognition to their relations.

The relations between the Republic of Turkiye and the Russian Federation are not new, as it goes back nearly seven centuries, since the establishment of the Ottoman and Russian Empires where they engaged in a severe rivalry over the domination of areas in the Balkans (Eastern Europe), the Caucasus and the Black Sea regions. Thus, making the historical dimension an important factor in shaping their relations and foreign policies towards multiple regions of common interest.

Under the title Turkey-Russia Relations in the Twenty-First Century: Cooperation and Competition amid Systemic Turbulence, Muhammet Kocak highlighted the developments in the relations between the two countries during the 20th century. This period saw a dramatic change in the course of their relations as of the end of the First World War where two new entities emerged; the modern Republic of Turkiye (the heir of the Ottoman Empire) and the Soviet Union (the heir of the Russian Empire). While the book goes back to link history and their former bilateral relations, the author also puts the spotlight on the developments in their relations at the beginning of the new millennium. Both have new assertive leaders that rose to power countries and reshaped their respective foreign policies in their pursuit of a better status and position on the international map. This does not mean that they are fully engaged in a full-fledged alliance, competition between them is still present, but being managed and observed by the leaderships of both countries to keep it at the level of not affecting their track of cooperation.

The book starts, in its first chapter, by highlighting the historical background...