The importance of border crosses in Turkey-Iran relations in political geography

Administrative borders are one of the most important topics of discussion in political geography. A large number of plans, projects or strategies are being developed on the change of borders, and these strategies bring about great changes in human history. The borders determined between countries are grouped under three headings as natural borders, artificial borders and ethnographic borders. The land border of the Republic of Turkey with the Islamic Republic of Iran is 526 km long. The Turkey-Iran border starts from Dilucu, located at the intersection of Iran and Nakhchivan countries, and extends over the Aras River to the Şapatan Pass, where the Iraqi border begins. The border between Turkey and Iran has not changed much since the Treaty of Kasr-ı Şirin. The aim of this study is to determine the economic, social, cultural and strategic potential of the border gates opened to Iran, one of the neighboring countries in the east of Turkey, and to evaluate its effects on its immediate surroundings, Turkey and inter-country processes in terms of political geography. Since both qualitative and quantitative data were used during the research, an exploratory mixed-pattern study was put forward. The Turkey-Iran border gates are one of Turkey's routes to Central Asia. It can be said that Turkey is Iran's gateway to Europe. A significant part of the Turkey-Iran border has mountainous and rough terrain. The ethnic structure of the border also varies. It can be said that the Turkey-Iran border is a center of attraction in the sphere of influence of the border region in terms of tourism potential, and it has significant potential for both Turkey and Iran. Keywords: Border, Political Geography, Border Gates, Turkey-Iran Border