Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Will Turkey's post-ceasefire efforts to increase its influence in the Central Asian region lead to differences with Russia?

 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Will Turkey's post-ceasefire efforts to increase its influence in the Central Asian region lead to differences with Russia?

Turkey's support in the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was of paramount importance to Azerbaijan and has exposed Turkey's plans in the region.

This shows that Turkey is trying to gain access to the Nakhchivan corridor in order to increase its influence in countries where languages ​​similar to Turkish are spoken after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Turkey and Azerbaijan have agreed to establish a corridor in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan, which borders Turkey.

On the other hand, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevl چاt شavu اوoلوlu said in a speech in Baku on November 12 that "everyone will benefit from the opening of the Nakhchivan corridor." If there is peace here, and the corridor is opened, it is good for everyone.

But Turkey now faces a new challenge: to achieve its goals without angering its ally Russia in the region, which generally considers the Caucasus to be under its influence.

Recently, when Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to a ceasefire after six weeks of fighting with the help of Russia, Azerbaijan had established its occupation of seven districts, including Karabakh, which had been under Armenian control since the 1990s.

Nakhchivan has a population of 400,000 and is located between Iran, Turkey and Armenia, and was occupied by Armenia in the 1990s.

Russia says a recent ceasefire agreement will allow Azerbaijan to continue its movement through the region and that Russian troops will be deployed to protect the corridor being built there.

The Nakhchivan corridor will connect Turkey and Azerbaijan directly, and will help Turkey increase its influence in the region.

Turkey has begun work on a railway project in the region, and the two countries agreed last month to lay a gas pipeline.

'The Way to Central Asia'

Observers close to the Turkish government say Nakhchivan could be a source of access to Central Asian countries and help Turkey reach those countries with which it shares social, cultural, and ethnic ties in addition to the language. does.

"This corridor can balance the political and economic balance in the region in favor of Turkey and Azerbaijan," one observer said in November.

Similarly, a pro-government newspaper, Sabah, reported on December 2 that the corridor would allow gas from Turkmenistan to be delivered "directly" to Turkey, which could be an alternative to "expensive Iranian gas."

According to Sabah, work on the proposed gas pipeline between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan could resume, with the help of which gas could be delivered to European countries via Georgia and Turkey.

Under a 1996 agreement, Turkey is said to have to pay 49 490 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas to buy Iranian gas.

But if gas could be obtained from the proposed pipeline via Azerbaijan, it would be ڈالر 335 per cubic meter.

The dream of Turkish nationalism

But in addition to economic opportunities, Nagorno-Karabakh's recent conflict has fueled nationalist and ideological sentiment in Turkey regarding the Caucasus region and Central Asia.