Towards a Eurasian axis? Russia and Turkey between cooperation and competition

Russia and Turkey share two important characteristics which influence their contemporary foreign policy: their geographical location at the intersection of Europe and Asia and a shared historical identity stemming from their past experience as power centres of large land-based empires. This resulted in the creation of sustained political, social, commercial and cultural ties to the Eurasian region, which still occupies an important place in Russian and Turkish foreign policy. This article aims at highlighting the issues of cooperation and competition between Russia and Turkey with a special focus on Eurasia. It is argued that cooperation between the countries has increased considerably in a large number of fields such as trade, energy and regional stability and security. Interestingly, exactly the same fields are also the areas in which competition between Ankara and Moscow is most probable. The article argues that recent statements about a strategic alliance developing along the Ankara–Moscow axis are far removed from reality. Instead, underlying divergences will ultimately lead to more competition which will probably characterize the relationship in the future.