ИСТИНА

The paper focuses on the Russia-Turkey relation in the region which historically served as a site of confrontation between various empires, Russia, Turkey, and Iran compete - along with other powers including China - to exert influence upon that immense territory. Five post-Soviet states stretch across Central Asia, an area of more than 1.5 million square miles. With populations of mostly Turkic origin, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are home to more than 65 million predominantly Sunni Muslims. The region fell under Russian control in the mid-nineteenth century. For Moscow, it has historically served as a strategic security belt against Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China. Since their independence, these five countries have been driven apart due to political, territorial, ethnic, and infrastructural issues – namely dams and hydropower plants. Russia, and Turkey have tried to use that lack of integration for their own ends. For Moscow this has enabled the preservation of erstwhile influence. For Ankara, which shares no borders with the region, this has meant using the sensitive issue of common ethnic roots to gain access to natural resources.