THE ROLE OF TURKEY IN THE SECOND KARABAKH WAR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CENTRAL ASIA

Abstract

The role of the Turkey and the reasons for the support of Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh war are under consideration. The armament provisions and the regular joint exercises showed the military support of Turkey for Azerbaijan as well as the opportunity for Turkey to demonstrate its military and technological capabilities in the Second Karabakh war. It is determined that the Turkish weaponry showed the weakness of the military planning and technologies of russia. It is suggested that using of the Turkish drones in the Karabakh war changed the concept of war. It is established that Central Asian nations are beginning to view Azerbaijan as a bridge to the West and as a matter of outstanding role of Turkey in the Second Karabakh war this new image of Azerbaijan will only increase Turkey’s advances in the Turkic republics of that area. It is determined that Turkey can expand eastward over the Caspian Sea thanks to Azerbaijan's geographic position, which will be important in stabilizing Turkey's approach to Central Asia. The most vivid example of this is the planned corridor that passes from southern Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan. The Second Karabakh War's aftermath and the Turkish leadership's sequential official travels to Central Asian nations are instructive of the growing importance of the Central Asia for Turkey. The institutional and military backgrounds of increasing cooperation with Central Asian countries is revealed as well. It is concluded that nationalistic and panturkic rhetoric and practice being currently on the agenda of foreign policy of Turkey aimed at Central Asia. If previously Turkey cooperated with Central Asia on the low politics, after the Second Karabakh war Turkey turned to high politics questions, using the low politics as the background for high politics issues. Based on their shared language and racial heritage, Turkey and Central Asian nations are forming a strategic, security, and military partnership. The emergence of political dimension in the cooperation is illustrated by the Turkic unanimity in the position paper “Turkic World Vision – 2040”.