Turkey - Russia Strategic Dialogue
“Thinking Diplomacy: New World New Horizons“When we look at the main trends in the world, global competition in the age of new economy based on "information and knowledge-based products" following "soil and machinery" is developing through "micro-nationalism", "integration" and "unpredictability’’. Challenges that determine the new nature of life and state; such as " crisis in resource and sharing ", unsustainability of production-consumption-growth formula, purge of the middle class with Chinese leverage, energy, water, and food insecurity, transition to the 4th dimension, liquidation of human resources in the workforce, transition from hard power to soft and smart power on the basis of the very changing state nature and anticipation management, can be formed as the basic references.
Within all these fundamental parameters, the transformations in technology are prone to change the whole human life and nature by developing with artificial intelligence, virtual/enhanced reality and mobility centered. It is obvious that the concepts of "Industry 4.0" and "Society 5.0" are important topics for managing the transformation of the world within the dimensions of industry and society. Another contributive factor is the turbulence that China creates as it begins to become intensively dominant on the world stage day to day. The New Silk Road project, "One Belt and One Road Initiative"; is shaped as a global integration project involving more than hundred countries, both on land and at sea, permanently changing the distribution of economic shares. In countries with no middle class, authoritarian regimes or chaos stands as two options in the fore-seeable future. How to make the division of labor in terms of regional and global security and how to share the costs is also a point of discussion in the coming period.
The development of new alliances on security can be read from the risks and the initiatives undertaken by dominant countries. The quality of the concepts of property and power, and the business model change historically. The future of the EU with the "Failure in Success" syndrome will be determined by the results of the polarization which revived in the West after the Brexit. Along with all these developments, "Ecosystem of safety" changes with the law. The "Security - Democracy" dilemma will be experienced much more after that. Because, for the democracy, it is difficult to survive in countries where the middle class is melting and security leans to a sophisticated ground. The question "Will security bring us authoritarian regimes" needs to be discussed further.
Turkey distinguishes itself with an 84-million inhabitants, growing economy and geo-strategic status in the center of Afro-Eurasia. Turkey's historical, political and cultural ties between Europe, Black Sea, Caucasus, Asia, Middle East and African countries, rising activity in the international arena, especially in the United Nations, being an important member of organizations such as NATO, OSCE and CICA and with active foreign policy, it has become an increasingly important actor on the global platform.
On the other hand, Russian Federation is a recognized power in global arena with its acreage, population of near 147 million, development in industrialization and technology, growing economy, natural resources, historical accumulation, veto power in the United Nations, position in CIS and SCO.
There are strong historical, cultural and geographical ties between Turkey and Russia which share both European and Asian characteristics. Turkey recognized USSR in 1920 and Soviet Union was the first major power to recognize Ankara Government during Turkish War of Independence. Despite ideological polarization during Cold War; the relations between Russia and Turkey have always proceeded on a certain level. After the Cold War; diplomatic relations between two countries have been strengthened by bilateral official visits and new Russian foreign policy.
Turkish-Russian relations have gained a different perspective and new opportunities of cooperation have occurred with Russia’s tendency towards pluralistic democracy and market economy. Both countries have taken steps to improve their relations, strengthen mutual trust and diversify the areas of cooperation. Within time these steps resulted in signing “Eurasia Cooperation Action Plan“ under the theme “From mutual cooperation to multidimensional partnership“ in November 2001. With the plan; the dialogue and cooperation in Eurasia is believed to resolve conflicts peacefully and permanently. Developing mutual economic relations between Russia and Turkey were also mentioned in the plan.
Economic and trade relations constitute the driving force behind the relations of the both countries. Main frame of the economic relations between Turkey and Russia have been determined by signing “Trade and Navigation Agreement on 8th of November 1937. After the collapse of the USSR, legal ground on economic relations between Russia and Turkey have been determined by signing “Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement“ on 25th of February 1991. Following a rapid development of economic cooperation in the 1990’s, bilateral relations entered a new phase in early 2000’s with the close dialogue between the leaderships of the two countries, and attained an institutional character with the establishment of the High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) in 2010. Turkish-Russian relations, that followed a course of cooperation in bilateral context, faced a serious test as a result of military activities related to the Syrian crisis. However, in line with the mutual desire of peoples of both countries, a normalization process was launched. In this manner, an intense bilateral political dialogue has been re-established since the second half of 2016.
Russia is one of Turkey's most important foreign trade partners. The bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Russia stood at 26.309 billion dollars in 2019 and trade gap weigh against Turkey was 18.599 billion dollars. The main products exported by Turkey to Russia are fresh fruit and vegetables, land transportation vehicles and their parts, textile and ready-made clothing products, electrical machinery and devices, machines and devices used in different industrial branches, final products from metals and shoes. The main products exported by Russia to Turkey are mineral fuels-oils; coal; sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oils; iron and steel; aluminum.
The biggest problem in trade between Russia and Turkey is that; this relation has begun to shape in favor of Russia. In long term; this situation may cause political and economical problems with regards to sustainment of relations. Turkey’s growing need for energy and high energy prices are some of the reasons behind this unbalanced trade relation. Russia’s specific rules on foreign trade are also deepening this problem.
Turkish companies' direct investments in Russia; Although it is 890 million dollars, this figure reaches approximately 10 billion dollars when the investments made in Russia through third countries are taken into account. The total number of projects carried out by Turkish contractors for Russia to date is 1972, and the cumulative total project cost is 75.7 billion dollars. The value of Russia's investments in Turkey (excluding the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project) is around 10 billion dollars.
Energy is one of the most important elements of relations between the two countries. The cooperation with Russia, one of Turkey's prominent partners in energy supply, in this field is carried to a further level with the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and TurkStream projects. The TurkStream Natural Gas Pipeline was opened in 2020 with a ceremony attended by the President of Russia. The existing cooperation in the field of tourism between the two countries constitutes another important dimension of bilateral relations. The number of Russian tourists coming to Turkey exceeded 7 million in 2019, reaching an all-time high. Russians have been in the first place among foreign tourists visiting Turkey in recent years.
Turkey and Russia; in the areas of geopolitics and security in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Middle east have similar interests. Considering energy security and growing terrorism; maintaining peace and security in these regions are vital for both countries. Both Turkey and Russia as growing economies have to take each other in to account. For Russia, Turkey is a good economic partner in Balkans, Middle East and Central Asia.
Turkey sees Russia as a partner in the areas of politics, economy and security. In order to develop its relations with Asian countries; Turkey gives special importance to its cooperation with Russia. In this regard, Turkey gives great importance to CIS, CICA and SCO. By becoming a member to these organizations Turkey aims to develop mutual relations with Russia in many fields including international trade and security cooperation.
Turkey has been trying to gain the support of Russia (as a permanent member of UN Security Council) in many international disputes including the issue of Cyprus. In the following term; in parallel with Turkey’s growing influence in international platforms; as members of UN, CICA, CIS and SCO, both countries will find to develop their cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, culture and security. Both countries can develop strategic cooperation with regards to sustaining long term interests. At this point, a wider geographical point of view is needed to look at the events.
It is being deeply felt that there is an urgent necessity for collaborative works of the two countries so that the solutions for the regional issues can be found. Now it is required that the two countries head towards a future structure, in order to uplift the Turkey - Russia relations an ideal point within a world power schema which takes its form in a multi-dimensional way, by creating a mutual deepening not only in political and strategic basis but also in its each parameters. History offers both the two countries opportunities for deepening their interdependency. In this regard, the Turkey - Russia Strategic Dialogue, which will bring together the representatives of the related sectors in a comprehensive way that includes the strategic dimension of the relations, will play a significant role.
Main Theme
Thinking Diplomacy: New World New Horizons
Sub Themes
New Balances New Economy
Turkey - Russia Economic Relations: Opportunities and Obstacles
Future Asia and Turkey-Russia
China - Russia Relations and Turkey
Energy Security, Energy Supply Policies and Opportunities
Technology Sharing
Turkey - Russia Security and Defence Cooperation
Middle East- Africa and Turkey - Russia
Central Asian Countries and Turkey-Russia
Academic and Cultural Cooperation
Primary Sectors
Public Diplomacy, Education and Language
Culture and Tourism
Construction, Construction Business and Infrastructure
Health and Health Tourism
Energy, Petro-chemistry and Investments
Logistics, Transportation and Communication
Banking and Finance (Strategic Investment Fund)
Economy and Trade
Media and Communication
Science and Technology
Brand Cities and Environment
Defence and Space Industry
STUDIES AND ACTIVITIES (DRAFT)
Method
Inductive Reasoning, Participation and Economic Deepening
Turkey - Russia Committee of Wise Persons Meetings Workshop
Building Capacity and Ecosystem Inventory
Preparation of Research Projects and their Reports
Development of Pro-active Policy Recommendations
Round-Table Meetings/Workshops
Multilateral Workshops/Studies
Sector Workshops/Activities
Applied Interactive Modelings
Strategic Reports
Publication of sector studies as strategic reports for decision makers, private sector, media and public opinion of the two countries. Providing literature and memory support.
Media Conferences
Other Academic Studies
Strategic Reports, Books, Articles, Thesis and so on Academic Studies
.
Event Page
https://tasam.org/en/Etkinlik/18308/turkey_-_russia_strategic_dialogue_
