Russia and Turkey: Between Cooperation and Discord • Dimitar Bechev (CSEEES Fellow)

Drawing on his forthcoming book entitled Rival Power: Russia in Southeast Europe (Yale University Press), CSEEES Fellow Dimitar Bechev will explore the complex political, security, and economic ties between Russia and Turkey. Starting from the early 1990s, the two former imperial rivals have developed a pragmatic relationship based on growing levels of interdependence in the area of energy as well as on converging foreign policy preferences. They have sought to minimize conflicts and frictions in the Black Sea region, the Balkans, and wider Eurasia. Strongmen in power, Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan, have invested in bilateral relations and managed the diplomatic crisis triggered by Moscow’s military intervention in Syria and the subsequent downing of a Russian jet in November 2015. This presentation will examine the sources, dynamics, and limits of the Turkish-Russian rapprochement along with its implications for the U.S. and Europe.

Dimitar Bechev is Director of the European Policy Institute, a think-tank based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Previously, Dr. Bechev held research fellowships at Harvard University, University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics. He has written extensively on EU’s external relations, the politics and modern history of Turkey and the Balkans, and on Russia’s foreign policy. He is a regular contributor to Al Jazeera, the American Interest, Politico, Foreign Policy, and openDemocracy.

 
Cosponsored by the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations