Turkey, Russia at odds over Middle East, Caucasus

Foreign Policy Journal ^ | Sunday, June 3, 2012 | Alakbar Raufoglu

[SunkenCiv]

Turkey's relations with Russia have traditionally been characterized by cooperation and competition, as both sides navigate a complex regional and international environment with overlapping economic and political interests -- and larger geopolitical questions.

Turkey and Russia compete -- and at times work together -- in their "near abroad": in the Caucasus, the Balkans and Central Asia. And as Turkey has played a more active role in the Middle East, it has come up against long established Russian interests dating from the Cold War, most notably in Syria.

Meanwhile, the two countries are major trading partners. According to Turkey's Statistics authority, TurkStat, Turkey's exports to Russia reached to $6 billion in 2011, while imports hit $24 billion, reflecting the huge oil and gas import bill. Turkey imports about 60% of its gas from Russia, a dependency it is trying to reduce.

Aimed to deepen bilateral dialog both in geopolitical sphere and trade, top diplomats of Moscow and Ankara are getting prepared for their next High Level Cooperation Council meeting this summer, a mechanism that was created in 2010 between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-PM Vladimir Putin's cabinets.

The Council last gathered in March 2011, during Erdogan's historic visit to Moscow.

After returning to Kremlin early this month, Vladimir Putin again invited Turkish PM to his country in the nearest future, to follow-up the bilateral dialog.

[SunkenCiv]

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