Turkish-Russian Relations

Competition and Cooperation in Eurasia

Fatma Aslı Kelkitli

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315437910
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

As the two most influential and powerful actors in Eurasia the nature of the Turkish-Russian relationship affects the situation in the Black Sea, South Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East and steers the foreign policy formulations of both regional states and global powers. Examining post-Cold War relations between Eurasia's most prominent actors, this book takes into account regional dynamics and global power struggles and identifies three important stages in Turkish-Russian relations during the period. Using complex interdependency theory the author offers valuable insights into the initial confrontational period and its transition to an atmosphere of compromise, cooperation and the evolution of multi-dimensional partnership. Leadership theory then explains the most recent deterioration in rapport as crises in Syria and Ukraine have placed severe strain on the previously warm bilateral relations.

Part I
Multiple ties that bind Turkey and Russia

1 Flourishing of a multifaceted relationship

The first proposition of the complex interdependency theory points out the emergence of a more entwined and integrated international system owing to the developments in transportation, communication and technology in which there exist various points of contact between the countries at both official and public levels. Official relations are conducted by politicians and bureaucrats in meetings, on the telephone and in official correspondence (Keohane and Nye 1977, 26). Transnational ties, on the other hand, have gained remarkable prominence especially with growing power and expansion of business along with increased people-to-people exchanges between the ordinary citizens which brought about a blurring of the lines between domestic and foreign policy and added more items on the agenda of foreign policy officials.

The years following the end of the Cold War have witnessed intensification and deepening of Turkish-Russian interaction on many platforms in accordance with the first premise of the complex interdependency theory. While high-level political exchanges formed the basis and the agreements signed at the end of these meetings set guidelines for future progress of the relationship, increasing activism of business interest groups along with growing people-to-people contacts through tourism, marriage, education and academic exchange further strengthened the bilateral ties between the two countries. Some progress has been recorded even in military relations that barely existed 25 years ago.

The erosion of political relations between Turkey and Russia following the plane crisis took its toll in other aspects of the relationship as well. Yet, grievances stemmed from losing important business and people-to-people connections led the non-state actors on both sides to mediate between the two leaders to reinitiate the political dialogue between the two countries. The active role played by Turkish and Russian businessmen in reopening the channels of communication between Erdoğan and Putin (Yetkin 2016) demonstrated once more the importance of the presence of multiple ties between Turkey and Russia in keeping the relationship on track. This chapter will examine these various ties that connect Turkey and Russia which have played crucial role both in the foundation and perpetuation of a multifaceted relationship between the two states in the post-Cold War era.

Growing and deepening political dialogue

The Treaty on the Principles of Relations between Russia and Turkey that was signed on May 25, 1992 during Turkish Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel’s official visit to Moscow became the first blueprint that determined the basic contours of Turkish-Russian relations in the post-Cold War era. As per the agreement, the two parties pledged to develop their relations within the framework of respect for political independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in domestic affairs, equality of rights and mutual interests (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1992).

Despite expressions of good intentions and statements of good will, rivalry in the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Balkans, coupled with mutual complaints of supporting the separatist currents in each other’s soil hampered the advancement of bilateral relations in the immediate post-Cold War period. The watershed which would engender a marked rapprochement between the two countries came in 1997 when the Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin visited Turkey on December 15–17 and signed with his Turkish counterpart Mesut Yılmaz the Blue Stream gas agreement that would strengthen the energy partnership between the two states. In addition to the natural gas accord, agreements regarding cooperation in customs matters, prevention of double taxation and reciprocal encouragement and protection of investments were also concluded in order to facilitate the activities of Turkish and Russian businessmen. Following the signatures, while Chernomyrdin stated that Russia and Turkey should leave behind the Chechen and Kurdish issues and concentrate on the establishment of powerful economic ties which would contribute to the normalization of political relations between the two countries, Yılmaz declared that Turkey desired to cooperate rather than compete with its great neighbor (Ayın Tarihi, December 15, 1997).

The agreements with Russia had come at a time when Turkey was facing difficulties in its relations with the EU and the Middle Eastern countries. A few days before Chernomyrdin’s visit, Turkey was denied candidate status at the EU Luxembourg summit and the Turkish President Demirel was criticized heavily by many Arab countries at the Organization of Islamic Conference summit in Tehran because of Turkey’s defense agreement with Israel and military operations in the north of Iraq. The thaw with Russia owing to these circumstances was considered significant and valuable for Turkish officials at least to demonstrate that Turkey was not devoid of prospective allies in its neighborhood.

The disruptive economic crises erupted in Russia in 1998 and in Turkey in 2001 contributed to a great extent to the Turkish-Russian reconciliation. With a run-down economy that was in urgent need of cash, Russia started to see Turkey not just as a relentless competitor that continuously strove to curb the Russian influence in the South Caucasus and Central Asia but also as a potential client of its rich natural gas resources. Compromise and accommodation in its intricate relationship with Russia was also appealing to Turkey as large Russian market could cure some of the ills of the severe financial crisis that had hit most of the Turkish companies. So, despite the ongoing rivalry in the South Caucasus and Central Asia and the existence of different point of views pertaining to some regional affairs such as the Kosovo War, elevating economic relations crowned by the construction of Blue Stream gas pipeline project led to a rapprochement in political matters which resulted in the signing of the Action Plan for Cooperation in Eurasia: From Bilateral Cooperation towards Multi-dimensional Partnership by Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov on November 16, 2001. The document envisaged common foreign policy outlook and joint course of action on behalf of Turkey and Russia for the creation of conditions for peace, stability and welfare in a vast area encompassing the Balkan, Black Sea, South Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East regions. With the Action Plan, the two countries also decided to establish the Joint Working Group which would be made up of the representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs and where prospects for improvement of relations on a bilateral basis and in the Eurasian platform would be taken up (Embassy of the Russian Federation in Turkey 2001). This mechanism, while increasing the number of direct contacts between the officials of Russia and Turkey, would also facilitate the implementation of concrete measures in various areas of relations.

Turkish-Russian relations elevated into a new dimension with Putin’s consolidation of authority in Russia and Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s coming to power in Turkey at the beginning of 2000s. Two important documents, Joint Declaration on Deepening of Friendship and Multi-dimensional Partnership of 2004 and Joint Declaration on Progress towards a New Stage in Relations and Further Deepening of Friendship and Multi-dimensional Partnership of 2009 were signed, both of which underlined that the two states had close or similar positions with regard to many regional and international matters and their collaboration in Eurasia would contribute to the security, stability and welfare in the region (Embassy of the Russian Federation in Turkey 2004; Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2009).

Significant steps towards the institutionalization of the relationship have been taken in the recent years. The High-Level Cooperation Council, a mechanism that would act as the guiding body in setting the strategy and main directions for developing Russian-Turkish relations, was established in May 2010 in the course of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Turkey. The Council would meet annually and coordinate implementation of important political, trade and economic projects as well as facilitation of cultural and humanitarian cooperation (President of Russia 2010). A public forum that would be composed of famous and reputable figures of Turkey and Russia was also established within the capacity of the Council in order to bring Turkish and Russian nations closer (Yağmur Güldere, Undersecretary of the Moscow Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, email correspondence with the author, October 27, 2010).

Reciprocal formal visits at the presidential, premier, ministerial levels, contacts between the friendship groups, functional committees and expert commissions of two parliaments, regular meetings and consultations held between the state agencies along with the formation of cooperation mechanisms strengthened the foundations of the Turkish-Russian relations and earned them a solid and institutional character in the post-Cold War period. Even so, development of amicable political ties between the lower echelons of Turkish and Russian establishment is very much dependent on good rapport at the top level. This situation was confirmed after Russian Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko stated on June 29, 2016, right after the thaw between Erdoğan and Putin, that they were ready to resume inter-parliamentary relations with the Turkish Parliament which had been frozen in December 2015 after the plane incident (“Russian Upper House” 2016).

Increasing visibility and influence of the business community

The economic relations between Turkey and Russia recorded an impressive progress in the immediate post-Cold War period despite tensions in the political atmosphere. The removal of travel restrictions, along with rise of unemployment in Russia as a result of limited job opportunities in the nascent private sector of the country in the post-Soviet period led some Russian citizens to engage in suitcase trade in Turkey, which as a result of liberalization measures taken at the beginning of 1980s, had transformed its economy based on import-substitution to an export-oriented one and had earned a good reputation for manufacturing of textile and consumer products. Turkey’s geographical proximity to Russia, the low price of the Turkish goods compared to their equivalents in the Western markets, and the Turkish government’s decision to ease visa requirements first for the citizens of the Soviet Union then for the nationals of the successor states made Turkey an attractive destination for Russian suitcase traders. Some of these people also started to visit Turkey as tourists in the ensuing years or recommended their fellow citizens to choose Turkey for their vacations which contributed positively to the developing of social bonds between the two societies whose interaction had been until that period was very limited due to the Cold War conditions.

This was also an era when Turkish companies started to invest in the Russian economy especially in banking, construction, retail and consumer goods sectors and reaped benefits of low competition there when most of the Western businesses stayed away from the Russian market as they did not want to deal with the travails of a transition economy. These early pioneers opened the way for other Turkish entrepreneurs in Russia and they, together with the suitcase traders, acquainted the citizens of Russia with Turkish goods and services.

This period also witnessed the emergence and growing prominence of Turkish business interest groups such as Turkish-Russian Business Council, Laleli Industrialists and Businessmen Association, Merter Industrialists and Businessmen Association, Russian-Turkish Businessmen Association and Russian-Turkish Business and Friendship Association, whose members were composed of people doing business in Russia or with Russian citizens. These organizations entered into contact with government officials occasionally, conveyed their demands, suggestions as well as grievances regarding Turkish-Russian economic interaction, and commenced to act as important lobbying mechanisms for development of better political relations between Turkey and Russia (Şaban Gül, Project Manager, Russian-Turkish Business and Friendship Association, interview with the author, February 25, 2008). These increasing contacts at the business level as well as growing bilateral trade forced Turkey and Russia to prepare the legal framework for the further development of the economic relations between the two countries. Agreements signed in 1997 regarding customs matters, prevention of double taxation and promotion of reciprocal investments should be taken in this sense. Furthermore, lobbying activities of some of the Turkish construction firms that did business in Russia were influential in realization of the Blue Stream gas pipeline project which became the major mortar that glued the future of the two countries.

The growing and diversifying economic relations especially in the fields of energy, construction, fast-moving consumer goods and manufacturing sectors, along with increasing mutual investments created a strong and lasting foundation for political association between Turkey and Russia throughout the years. The activities and initiatives of Turkish professional business organizations such as Antalya Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Union, Turkish Exporters Assembly and International Transporters Association should also be mentioned here as, whenever Turkish companies encountered difficulties in their interaction with the Russian authorities, they actively stepped in and struggled to solve the problem by bringing forth new policy options and engaging Turkish officials as well as government members for the resolution of the conflict.

Developing and diversifying people-to-people ties

Mixed marriages, student exchanges, tourist visits and academic interaction all have had a positive impact on consolidation of social and cultural bonds between Turkey and Russia in the post-Cold War period. Three hundred thousand marriages between Turkish and Russian citizens occurred (“300,000 Marriages” 2012) and 1 million children born out of these marriages will act as a cultural bridge between the two nations in the coming years. Education, culture, friendship associations founded in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and St. Petersburg by Turkish and Russian citizens also contributed to the development of social and cultural ties between the two societies through opening of Turkish and Russian language courses, organizing exhibitions, arranging tourist visits to Turkey and Russia, holding conferences and extending help in legal matters.

There have been approximately 1,100 Turkish students (Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Moscow 2016) studying in higher education institutions in Russia, about 300 of whom specialize on nuclear technology, whereas 1,157 Russian students have been studying in Turkish universities, according to 2015 figures (Higher Education Council 2015). Some of the Turkish university students receiving education in the cities of Obninsk, Voronezh and Saratov were reported to have been expelled from their institutions following the rift between Turkey and Russia (Dolgov 2015). Russia acknowledged the expulsion of eight Turkish students from the Voronezh Institute of High Technologies but maintained that they were dismissed because of academic failure and poor attendance rather than for political reasons (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation 2015).

Tourism is another burgeoning area for Turkish-Russian interaction. Russian tourists started visiting...