PhD student in International Relations, University of Guilan
Abstract
Iran and Turkey have special sensitivities to this region due to the multidimensional importance of the South Caucasus. Iran considers this region as an arena for the development of its power and influence, and on the other hand, Turkey sees it as a bridge for mapping and promoting its position in Eurasia. The research question is, considering the position of the South Caucasus in the foreign policy of Iran and Turkey, what policy do these two countries pursue in this region? The research hypothesis is that due to the power vacuum created in the post-Cold War era, the South Caucasus has presented opportunities for Iran and Turkey to advance in this regard; The two countries are seeking to achieve goals such as exploiting the region's economic and energy potential, establishing regional peace and stability, and expanding cooperation. In the meantime, Ankara is pursuing a policy of containment of Iran by establishing close relations with regional and trans-regional actors such as Azerbaijan, Israel and the United States; Tehran, meanwhile, has sought to reduce Ankara's influence in the South Caucasus and its isolation in the South Caucasus by creating the Tehran-Moscow-Yerevan axis. Qualitative analysis method was used to analyze the data.
