Remziye Yilmaz

Interdependence Between Energy and Foreign Policy: Russia and Turkey As Case Studies Remziye Yilmaz

Since energy has an impact on economy and security of countries, there is a direct link between energy and foreign policy. Energy is perceived as a way to make national foreign policy goals achieved. Therefore, energy relations between countries in the world take place at a larger context rather than just an energy issue. Analyzing the reasons behind the 1973 oil embargo clearly shows how energy can be used as a political weapon to achieve foreign policy goals. Russia is a very important actor in the field of energy. It is currently being accused of building energy leverage over the importing and transit countries in order to regain power and reputation which it lost since the Cold War. Turkey is a crucial energy transit country because it is so close to large energy supplier and consumer countries. Turkey is considered that it uses its geostrategic position as leverage to be a hegemony player in the region. While the approach of using energy as a political tool may seem successful in short time, it has been considered as very risky for long term period.