Strategic importance of the South Caucasus in the foreign policy of the Republic of Turkey

The author examines the geopolitical and geo-economic interests of Turkey in the South Caucasus, considers the key directions of foreign policy in this region, and analyzes the ideas of Neo-Ottomanism and Pan-Turkism, which are the basis of the country's foreign policy vector. It is important to designate that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acts as a conductor of the NATO bloc's policy in the Caucasus, as well as realizes large-scale logistic and energy projects in this region. Ankara shares the positions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on strengthening the position of the bloc near the borders of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Abkhazia. In this context, it should be noted that in the South Caucasus the only ally of the Russian Federation is the Republic of Abkhazia (however, as well as in the entire post-Soviet space along with the Republic of Belarus). Erdogan is actively pursuing an integration policy to bring Azerbaijan and Georgia into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in order to strengthen his own position in the South Caucasus. The Turkish president leads a right-wing populist discourse towards the US and the EU, but at the same time Turkey is a member of the NATO bloc. The strategic aspects of Turkey's geopolitical and geo-economic interests in the South Caucasus are 1) Neo-Ottomanism and Pan-Turkism as key directions of Turkey's external influence on the political processes of the states; 2) development of logistic projects in the region; 3) Turkey’s acting as a conductor of NATO policy in the South Caucasus; 4) Turkey's high participation in gas production in the South Caucasus and export of energy resources to Europe.