RUSSİAN–TURKİSH ECONOMİC COOPERATİON İN THE 1990S: HİSTORİCAL ASPECTS AND MAİN DİRECTİONS OF DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This article examines the development of interstate economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Türkiye during the ten years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in chronological order and with due consideration of its historical and strategic aspects. The aim of the article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the restructuring, expansion, and diversification of trade relations between the two countries in the 1990s, despite military-political and strategic contradictions and fluctuations in bilateral relations. The article analyzes economic and political processes in the post-Soviet period and examines the reasons behind the willingness of the governments of Türkiye and Russia to “shift from competition to cooperation” from the mid-1990s onward. It assesses the expansion of economic cooperation between the two geopolitically contrasting countries, namely, the rapprochement resulting from the economic needs of both sides. The article presents the overall volume of foreign trade for 1992–2000 and highlights the direct manifestations of mutual distrust between the parties against the background of regional and global developments. Within the same chronological framework, the main stages, risks, and threats in bilateral economic relations, as well as the prospects for their further development, are analyzed. The article emphasizes the importance of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It addresses the attractiveness of new opportunities for the purchase and sale of natural gas for both countries in the field of energy trade and highlights the mutual interests of Russia and Türkiye in this area. The article also describes the state policies pursued by the two countries in the areas of trade, construction, and tourism. In addition, factors posing threats to bilateral relations are identified, including Türkiye’s NATO membership, the policies of the United States and the European Union toward the newly independent states, Russia’s policies in the Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Near East, as well as NATO’s eastward expansion plans. In conclusion, the article compares economic cooperation between Russia and Türkiye in the 1990s with that of the Soviet era.