Türkiye’nin Güney Kafkasya Politikasi (1989-1993): Bati’nin Belirleyiciliği
Turkey’s South-Caucasus Policy (1989-1993): The West as a Determinant

Summary/Abstract: This article examines Turkey’s South Caucasus policy during the collapse of the Soviet Union and thereafter. Starting from the determining dynamics, the content and the efficiency level of this policy are analysed. The main argument of this article is that during the collapse of the Soviet Union and thereafter, Turkey’s South Caucasus policy had been determined in accordance with the West’s USSR/the Russian Federation policy. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, East-West rapprochement affected to a Western-oriented and Moscow-centred Turkish foreign policy. Likewise, during the first years of the post-Soviet transformation, Russian Federation-oriented Eurasian policy of the West brought about a parallel Turkish foreign policy. In this vein, Turkey was presented as a model in the integration of post-Soviet states within the global economy. Moreover, this model was supported by the Russian Federation against Iranian regional influence. However, the process of Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands outside Nogarno-Karabagh since June 1993, had paved the way for a more ethnicity-oriented and Azerbaijan-centred Turkish foreign policy. At the same period, the burgeoning Western- Russian energy competition increased the doubts of the Russian Federation about the model and as a result, the chance of success of the Turkish model was diminished. Turkey lost its last regional supporter when Elchibey was ousted in June 1993 after an armed insurrection.

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