The place and importance of the easternmediterranean region in Russia's foreign policy withinthe framework of Russia's Multipolar discourse

With the effect of the change observed in the power balances in the international conjuncture, Russia has started to follow an active foreign policy since the 2000's. For Russia, which emphasizes the necessity of a multipolar international structure in the construction of a just world order, the real importance of this structure is undoubtedly a prerequisite for expanding its field of activity in different parts of the world. Russian diplomacy, seeking new ways and resources in order to strengthen its role in building a multipolar world, is trying to fulfill this task by following an active foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, whose strategic importance has increased due to the energy resources discovered in recent years. The Eastern Mediterranean has become an alternative energy supply center for European countries to get rid of their energy dependence on Russia. Providing the continuity of supply security to the European market of Russia, which provides a significant part of its income from energy, is extremely important in terms of gaining economic and political power. Russia, which seized the opportunity to make an impact in the Eastern Mediterranean with the civil war that started in Syria in 2011 for the first time after the Cold War, is trying to gain status by providing multilateral security in the region. For this reason, Russia is trying to weaken NATO's role in the security architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean and to keep the balance in line with its own interests by competing with the USA and the EU. In this context, Russia tries to strengthen its cooperation with the countries of the region by competing with Western powers within the framework of "Soft Balancing" policies, especially in strategic areas such as energy and defense. Considering that the multipolar discourse in Russian foreign policy is built on anti-Westernism and this opposition has become more evident after the Ukraine crisis, it is seen that the Mediterranean serves as an additional field in competition with the USA and Western European countries. In this direction, the aim of the study is to investigate and evaluate Russia's desire to be an important part of the multipolar international system in the context of Eastern Mediterranean policies.