The Role of Energy in the Strengthening of Turkey-Russia Relations, 2016-2021

Abstract

During 2016-2021, energy security and power were a priority for states. All this period, it was Turkey’s strategy to seek independence in the international system, while Russia’s was to establish a multipolar world. In this framework, their relationship improved, going from a low point in November 2015, after the downing of a Russian Sukhoi by a Turkish F-16 in the Turkish-Syrian borders, to a state of ‘smart alignment and flexible competition’ by the end of 2021. In the same era, there was a bloom in the Russian-Turkish energy relationships, leading to the rise of projects, like the gas pipelines Turkish Stream 1 and 2, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP). The article presents the importance of energy in the evolution of Russian-Turkish relations.