Author: Zaal Margvelashvili, Research Fellow at the Levan Mikeladze Diplomatic Training and Research Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

August 2020

The security of Georgia and the general Black Sea basin depends on the developments taking place both within the outlined region, as well as in adjacent regions. In this regard, the central position is held by the Republic of Turkey, which has access to both the Black Sea, as well as the Mediterranean and which is directly affected by the developments unravelling in the MENA region. It is noteworthy, that after WWII the Republic of Turkey represented one of the key allies of the US in the region, however, due to the disagreements concerning the issues of extradition of Fethullah Gülen and the acquisition of Russian-manufactured S-400 ground-to-air defence systems on behalf of Ankara, the US-Turkish relations have “cooled down”, which decreases the capacity of the US to exert influence in the region. Turkish-Armenian relations also remain “frozen”, due to the adamant refusal of Ankara to acknowledge the tragic events that took place during WWI as Genocide of the Armenian people, along with the overt support that Turkey demonstrates towards Azerbaijan in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Furthermore, Turkey remains a loyal supporter of Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Additionally, the Republic of Turkey continues its long-standing tradition of balancing the relations between the collective ‘West’ and the Russian Federation.
The Republic of Tukey is located in a politically and economically volatile environment, which is characterised by dramatic processes taking place in and around the Black Sea basin and the general Mediterranean region.