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Begin New Search Political Geography Eurasia Journal Uluslararasi Iliskiler

1. From Geopolitical Competition to Strategic Partnership: Turkey and Russia after The Cold War

Author:
Evren Balta
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This article examines different analytical perspectives on Turkish-Russian relations and provides a conceptual history of developing connections between Turkey and Russia since the end of the Cold War. It first reviews evolving political relations, including military cooperation, and then focuses on economic relations, including energy cooperation. Finally, it discusses the socio-cultural aspects of bilateral relations, focusing on the movement of people. It shows how conflicting geopolitical interests have overshadowed the increasing economic cooperation and cultural exchange that had marked the previous two decades of bilateral relations. Although Turkey and Russia have competing regional interests, their dissatisfaction with and resentment of Western policies is one of the major reasons for their reluctant geopolitical cooperation. This article emphasizes the need for a multi-causal and analytically eclectic approach to analyzing Turkish-Russian relations that selectively recombines analytic components of causal mechanisms in competing research traditions.
Topic:
Cold War, Bilateral Relations, Military Affairs, Partnerships, and Economic Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

2. Debating Eurasia: Political Travels of a Geographical Concept in Turkey

Author:
Lerna K. Yanik
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This article reviews the ways in which various actors in Turkey have used the terms ‘Eurasia’ and ‘Eurasianism’ since the end of the Cold War. It presents two arguments. First, compared to Russian Eurasianism, it is difficult to talk about the existence of a ‘Turkish Eurasianism’. Yet, the article employs the term Turkish Eurasianism as a shorthand to describe the ways in which Eurasia and Eurasianism are employed in Turkey. Second, Turkish Eurasianism is nothing but the use or instrumentalization of Eurasia to create a geopolitical identity for Turkey that legitimizes its political, economic, and strategic interests primarily in the post-Soviet space, but, from time to time, also in the Balkans and Africa. Various Turkish state and non-state actors have used Eurasia to mean different things and justify different goals: reaching out to Turkic Republics, being pro-Russian, creating a sphere of influence in former Ottoman lands, or, recently, cloaking anti-Western currents.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, and Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

3. Russian and Turkish Foreign Policy Activism in the Syrian Theater

Author:
Inan Rüma and Mitat Çelikpala
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
Russia and Turkey have been involved in remarkable redefinitions of their foreign policies while navigating through turbulent times in the Post-Cold War era. This has manifested in a search of being recognized as a great power. The tragic civil war in Syria has been the theatre of these ambitions of these two states in highly controversial ways. They have been on the opposite sides until recently on the essential question of the regime change in that country. The risk of a direct fight has even been observed when Turkish air force got a Russian jet down. However, a rapid rapprochement started due to Turkish priority shift from the regime change to the prevention of Kurdish autonomy and the alienation from US; and Russian enthusiasm to get the cooperation of an ardent anti-regime NATO member like Turkey. It can be said that Russia and Turkey have been more process-oriented than result-oriented because they have been compelled to see the limits of their power and influence. As a result, they seem to prefer to focus on the process since they seem to reach their primary objective of showing their salience. All in all, one can only hope for a peaceful and democratic life for Syrians whom tremendously suffered also as a result of an imbroglio of all these global and regional powers’ policies.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Political Activism, and Kurds
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

4. Constructivism, Identity, ‘Manufactured’ Citizens: Russia’s Citizenship Policies in Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Author:
Didem Ekinci
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This paper discusses through a Constructivist perspective that the aim of maintaining influence via great power identity in the Near Abroad which preserved its significance in the post-1991 Russian foreign policy under the statist/pragmatist and civilizationist schools’ influence, is reinforced through citizenship policies due to established collective identities with certain actors. The fact that Russia’s conferral of citizenship to certain peoples through old collective identities via long-time great power identity is not a newly invented and ephemeral policy but that its roots reflect influence-driven subjecthood/citizenship policies since the Tsarist times, strengthens the assumption that the Near Abroad is an irreplaceable region for Russia which may practice similar policies towards other actors in the Near Abroad in the future.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Territorial Disputes, and Citizenship
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia

5. Framing the Russian Aircraft Crisis: News Discourse in Turkey’s Polarized Media Environment

Author:
Burak Özçetin and Banu Baybars-Hawks
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This article analyzes the way in which the downing of a Russian aircraft by a Turkish F-16 jet on 24 November 2015 was framed by pro-government (Türkiye, Yeni Akit, Yeni Şafak) and anti-government (Cumhuriyet) newspapers. Framing means selecting some aspects of a perceived reality and making them more salient in a communicating text. News frames give us definitions and identify those responsible for an event; make moral judgements; and propose solutions to problems. The analysis of the news frames utilized by four newspapers underlines the fact that in a polarized media environment news frames are highly politicized and the distinction between news frames and official discourse is frequently blurred.
Topic:
Media, Syrian War, Crisis Management, and Polarization
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, Turkey, and Mediterranean

6. British–Russian Convention and Ottoman Empire in the Context of Polarization Politics

Author:
M. Volkan Atuk
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
The British-Russian Convention of 1907 was seen as a joint effort by Britain and Russia to reconcile their areas of influence in Asia but apart from this purpose, it represented the last ring of the emerging tripartite blog that included France against Germany and its allies. The agreement, which mainly came into agenda for partitioning Iran, was handled by the Ottoman Foreign Affairs as a text about Asian affairs. The Ottoman statesmen, who considered only the part of this agreement concerning Afghanistan, Tibet and Iran, couldn’t realize that this was an important part of the polarization politics that pushed world to a general war.
Topic:
Politics, Treaties and Agreements, History, Ottoman Empire, and Polarization
Political Geography:
Britain, Afghanistan, Russia, Europe, Iran, Eurasia, and Tibet

7. The Steppe and Early European State Formation

Author:
Iver B. Neumann
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
It is not a self-evident thing for a group of scholars to invite an outsider who has studied the home turf of that group to open one of their conferences. I am extremely pleased to be here, and I want to make the most of the opportunity by calling attention to an area of study that my previous work has been pointing me to, and that I believe we who study International Relations (IR) should make our own. I am talking about a relation between two places in time. The relation is the one between nomads and sedentaries. The places are the Eurasian steppe and the sedentary polities to its west. By the Eurasia steppe I mean that vast tract of land that stretched from the Mongolian-Turkic homelands around Karakorum, north of the agricultural lands of the Chinese, the Persians and the Byzantines, all the way to where the grasslands started to give way to forest, and where there lived Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes. The time is what Europeans call the middle ages.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and Eurasia

8. The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan One Year After

Author:
Erica Marat
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Erica Marat tarafından kaleme alınan The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan One Year After (Lale Devrimi: Bir Yıl Sonra Kırgızistan) başlıklı bu kitap, Kırgızistan'da 24 Mart 2005 tarihinde Kırgız halkının büyük baskısı sonucu Cumhurbaşkanı Askar Akayev'in iktidardan uzaklaştırılması ile gerçekleşen ve Lale Devrimi olarak adlandırılan olaylardan sonraki bir yıllık süreci tüm ayrıntılarıyla ele almaktadır. Aslen bir Kırgız olan Erica Marat, bu özelliŞinin saŞladıŞı avantajı kullanarak Lale Devriminden sonraki bir yıl içerisinde Kırgızistan'ın iç ve dış politikasının nasıl şekillendiŞini, Jamestown Foundation'a baŞlı olan Eurasia Daily Monitor'de yayınlan yazılarından yararlanarak tarihsel bir şekilde anlatmaktadır. Erica Marat'ın ülkesinin iç dinamiklerini çok iyi bilen bir araştırmacı olması ve yerel kaynaklardan yararlanabilmesi eserine özgünlük katmıştır. Kitap, Lale Devrimi'nin yıldönümünde yayınlamış olması ve bu bir yılda yaşanılanları sıcaŞı sıcaŞına anlatması bakımından da oldukça ilgi çekicidir. Söz konusu kitapta, özellikle 24 Mart'ta yaşanılanlardan sonra kurulan geçici hükümetle birlikte daha önce Akayev hükümetinde görev almış fakat Akayev tarafından siyasetten uzaklaştırıldıktan sonra muhalefete katılmış Kurmanbek Bakiyev'in Kırgız siyaset sahnesindeki konumu anlatılmaktadır. Ayrıca, kitapta Kırgızistan'da 24 Mart sonrası geçiş döneminde yaşanılan istikrar sorunları, Özbekistan'da gerçekleşen Andican olaylarının komşusu Kırgızistan'a nasıl yansıdıŞı, ülkedeki Amerikan ve Rus üslerinin durumu, Kırgızistan'daki CumhurbaşkanlıŞı seçimleri sırasında ve sonrasında Lale Devrimine imza atan liderler arasında yaşanan çekişmelere yer verilmektedir. Buna ek olarak, kitapta yer alan diŞer önemli bir unsur ise Lale Devrimi ardından, yeni bir Cumhurbaşkanı ve yeni bir iktidarla birlikte Kırgızistan'da ülkenin baŞımsızlıŞını kazanmasından beri var olan yolsuzluk, nepotizm, bölgesel kayırmacılık, mafya-siyaset ilişkisi ve demokratikleşme gibi konuların nasıl bir aşama geçirdiŞidir. Tüm bu noktalara deŞinirken yazar tarafsızlıŞını korumak adına kendi görüşlerini dile getirmekten mümkün oldukça kaçınmıştır. Hatta yazarın bu dönemle ilgi diŞer yazıları göz önünde bulundurulduŞunda üslubunun çok yumuşak olduŞu söylenilebilir. Yazarın konuları ele alırken Kırgız halkı ile yaptıŞı röportajlara yer vermesi anlatımını büyük ölçüde zenginleştirmekte ve hem iç politikada hem de dış politikada yaşanılanlar konusunda Kırgızların neler düşündüŞünü okuyucuya net bir şekilde yansıtmaktadır.
Political Geography:
Eurasia and Kyrgyzstan

9. An Example of Turkey's Multilateral Initiativesin Eurasia: Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation

Author:
Emel G. Oktay
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This study aims at evaluating the dynamics that paved the way for the inception of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) initiative, which was lauched by Turkey taking advantage of the impact of the changes in the international system generated by the ending of the Cold War period. For the evaluation of the success and perenniality of the BSEC initiative, organizational structure and perceptions of member countries are also studied. In addition to important economic cooperation, initiatives aimed at security cooperation in the Black Sea, are also analysed by taking into account their impact upon the regional and international arena. Finally, the achievements of BSEC since its inception in 1992 are evaluated and some suggestions are provided.
Topic:
Cold War and Economics
Political Geography:
Eurasia and Turkey

10. Strategic Importance of Eurasia for Turkey's Export-Oriented Economy Policies

Author:
Mert Bilgin
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
It is almost impossible for Turkey to find a room in Eurasia based on its political meaning. However the more Eurasia is assigned an economic meaning, the more Turkey can benefit from its advantages. The necessity to ameliorate the terms of the energy agreements signed with Eurasian energy exporters and to increase exportations to these countries through strong brands fortified by the concept of TURQUALITY® are the two preconditions of this. By this positioning Turkey will better respond to the forthcoming pressures from; 1- High costs of energy and raw materials imported from Eurasian countries. 2- Full EU membership of East European countries, 3- Eurasian Customs Union, 4- Global price competition especially in the textile sector. Eurasia, which should be considered within this structure, does not indicate an alternative against Europe, but rather offers opportunities along which Turkey has the potency to position itself as a "Eurasian Tiger" if it manages to overcome these pressures.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Europe, Eurasia, and Turkey