The realm of new security threats: Cybersecurity as an undefined territory in Türkiye-Russian bilateral relations

Abstract

Throughout the Cold War, Türkiye stood as a reliable defender of Europe’s southern flank, firmly aligned with NATO against the Soviet Union. However, in the past decade, this alignment has softened. Türkiye’s growing ties with Russia and strained relations with the United States and certain European nations have blurred its role within the Western security structure. Since the early 1990s, Türkiye and Russia have significantly strengthened their economic and political ties. As a case in point, the annual number of Russian tourists visiting Türkiye grew consistently from 1.3 million in 1996 to 7 million in 2019, making them the largest group among all nationalities. A further example is natural gas, which is Türkiye’s primary energy import. The country relies entirely on imports for its natural gas, delivered mainly via pipelines or as LNG, with Russia being its leading supplier. This dependency is mainly due to infrastructure, including two pipelines connecting the countries: Blue Stream, which has been operational since 2003, and TurkStream, which was launched in 2020. Economic and trade ties have undeniably been the cornerstone of Turkish-Russian relations, with Russia emerging as one of Türkiye’s key trade partners since the 1990s. Establishing the High-Level Cooperation Council in 2010 further reinforced the deepening economic and cultural connections between the two countries. However, bilateral relations, which had grown stronger during the 2000s, faced a significant setback on November 24, 2015, when Türkiye downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. From November 2015 to July 2016, political and economic relations between the two countries were deeply strained. However, by mid-2016, relations rapidly and unexpectedly normalized, especially following Türkiye’s failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Within a year, Türkiye and Russia again affirmed their foreign policy and economic cooperation partnership.