Vestnik RUDN. International Relations. ISSN 2313-0660 (print), ISSN 2313-0679 (online)
2024 Vol. 24 No. 1 7–22
Вестник РУДН. Серия: МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЕ ОТНОШЕНИЯ
http://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations
THEMATIC DOSSIER: International and Regional Studies… 7
THEMATICDOSSIER:
InternationalandRegionalStudies:FromTheorytoPractice
ТЕМАТИЧЕСКОЕДОСЬЕ:
М
еждународныеирегиональныеисследования:
оттеориикпрактике
DOI: 10.22363/2313-0660-2024-24-1-7-22
EDN: DHSPMY
Researcharticle/Научнаястатья
TurkishBalance,orTürkiye’sForeignPolicyStrategy
intheBlackSeaRegionFollowingtheSpecialMilitaryOperation
Aleksandr A. Irkhin , Olga A. Moskalenko , Natalia E. Demeshko
1
Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russian Federation
alex.irhin@mail.ru
Abstract. Th
e Black Sea region in its various geopolitical configurations is a zone of priority for the Turkish
elite. Prior to the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774), the Black Sea was regarded as the “Sultan’s harem.” Being
essentially a peninsula between the Mediterranean and Black Sea, Türkiye is interested in maintaining control over
the Black Sea space or in sharing it with another strong power having access to it. The authors aim to identify and
explore Türkiye’s foreign policy strategy in relation to the Black Sea region as one of the key geopolitical spaces for
Ankara’s national interests. The foreign policy strategy is understood as a long-term mechanism of the subject in
relation to objects and competing subjects, which aims to achieve the most favorable spatial position with the help
of military and non-military means and appropriate resources, taking into account the timeliness factor. The article
solves specific tasks: it identifies the stable characteristics of Turkish foreign policy, shaped by historical experience
and geography, which underlie Ankara’s foreign policy strategy; it shows and studies the strategic vision of the
Turkish elite in relation to the Black Sea region; it reveals the mechanisms of influence of external geopolitical
subjects on the region and the combination of these mechanisms with Turkish national interests. The concept
of Turkish balance is introduced as mechanism of Türkiye’s foreign policy strategy whose main purpose is to
integrate stronger powers into the logic and algorithms of foreign policy balances of stronger powers with their
mutual opposition and further balancing act, which allows Türkiye to receive maximum geo-economic and
geopolitical dividends. The research methodology is represented by systemic, geopolitical and civilizational
approaches. Given the role of the Black Sea region in the military-political dynamics since February 2022, the
mechanisms of Türkiye’s foreign policy strategy in relation to the region are becoming crucial for Russia in various
areas of national security. Authors propagate that February 2022 is the inertia of the events of March 2014 and
deeper, of the postponed crisis of 1991 caused by the disintegration of the USSR. However, it was the beginning of
the special military operation that brought the military and political confrontation at the global and regional levels
into the format of open confrontation. Russia has challenged the West and its system of allies.
Key words: geopolitics of the Black Sea region, regional powers, Russian-Turkish relations, balance of power
© Irkhin A.A., Moskalenko O.A., Demeshko N.E., 2024
Th
is work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
https://creativecommons.or
/licenses/b
-nc/4.0/le
alcode
