ERDOGAN STAYS: PROSPECTS FOR TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH THE US, EU AND RUSSIA. PART 1

Abstract

In the second round on May 28, 2023, Turkish presidential candidate R.T. Erdogan defeated his rival. The victory was expected, but by no means triumphant, as the supporters of the current government hoped. This insignificant advantage was achieved, according to the author, due to the successes in Erdogan’s foreign policy. Thus, the main task was solved, in the name of which he sought to create the image of a «Strong Turkey», aggravating relations with his partners in NATO and the EU – the extension and strengthening of his own power. In this article, the author focuses on the question: will Erdogan also base his third term through a «tough» (forceful) policy or will he soften relations with partners in the alliance and the EU? An analysis of the available material gives grounds to believe that today Ankara is working for a second option (reducing tension) in relations with partners. The contours of this line appear quite clearly. The author also puts a question – what can Ankara’s progress in this direction mean for its relations with Moscow?

Keywords

• turkey
• recep tayyip erdogan
• kemal kılıçdaroğlu
• presidential elections
• nato
• european union
• russia
• moscow
• ankara
• brussels
• ukraine