The factors affected Turkey-İran relations in the 2000's

Turkey and Iran are the two largest and most important powers in the Middle East, and they have a long history of bilateral relations which has been shaped through both balance and competition. Iran, which is located in the intersection of the Middle East and Central Asia, is characterized by its geopolitical position and role in a similar way to Turkey as a power in this region, and therefore plays an extremely large role in Turkey's regional policies. While Iran has tried to be effective in the region with its own political system, its Shia population and nuclear activities, Turkey has come to the fore in this vast region in addition to the privilege it enjoys of being both a European and Asian country, and having a long-term tradition of democracy. All of these differences and similarities which characterise the foreign policy priorities, strategic alliances and regional policies of Turkey and Iran will determine the direction in which relations between the two countries will go. Turkey must necessarily follow its neighbour Iran due to a common boundary that has not changed since the Treaty of Kasr-ı Şirin Iran, and in terms of foreign policies which include in particular; playing a role in the region, the crisis of the nuclear program, domination of the world energy market, as well as in all other areas. Regional competition has existed throughout the history of Turkey-Iran relations. Important topics in the relations between the two countries in the first 20-year period since the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution included Iran's export policies towards Turkey and the competition to become a regional power, while for the second 20-year period the primary topics were Iran?s support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization, Iran's nuclear activities and the energy exchange with Iran. However, especially in the 2000s, Turkey and Iran have been able to co-exist on the same axis in view of their common interests and strategic objectives, and they therefore were able to experience a normalization of relations. For this reason, Turkey-Iran relations in the 2000s within this thesis need to be presented separately. In this context, the aims of these theses are to present the two countries' foreign policy trends in the 2000s which resulted from changing regional and global developments in view of the two countries' relations, and to make a prediction of the future of those relations. Key Words: Turkey-Iran Relations, Iran's Nuclear Work, Iran's Natural Gas Gun, the Arab Spring, the Syrian Crisis, the U.S.?s Intervention in Iraq.