BY YUSUF KANLI
TDN- Less than a decade ago, the Turkish-Russian trade volume was at negligible levels. Up until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow was the place to which the nationalists here wanted all Turkish socialists to be relegated.
With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, however, we began to experience a radical change in perception on the part of Turks and Russians towards each other, while at the same time the two countries continued to compete for dominance in the newly independent Central Asian and Caucasian republics. At times Iran joined in the race for dominance, but the contest was primarily between Ankara and Moscow.
First we encountered a massive increase in the number of Russian tourists as well as a boom in the so-called “suitcase trade.” Those were the boom years of Istanbul`s Laleli district. Through improper trade deals, most of those self-made Russian tourist-traders became disgruntled, which in turn caused the Laleli shops to suffer tremendously.
Then came the natural gas deals, contracting business undertaken by Turkish companies in Russia, Turkish stores opening up in major Russian cities, accommodation catering to Russians being established at some popular Turkish tourism centers -- particularly Antalya -- and Turkish shop owners practicing Russian etiquette in addition to displaying English and German manners in a bid to boost their sales.
Blue Stream -- considered by most of us to be a “Blue Dream” in its initial stages -- landed some prominent Turkish politicians in a difficult position due to allegations of corruption but at the same time opened up a new dimension in Turkish-Russian relations.
Now, 14 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkish and Russian leaders have started talking about an ambitious trade volume between the two countries by the end of next year: $15 billion.
Ambitious? Is it really? For the past few years, Turkish-Russian trade relations have expanded every year by approximately 50 to 60 percent over the preceding year. The current trade volume between the two countries is reportedly around the $10 billion level. The trade volume was less than half that figure in 2003. A 50 percent increase for 2005, therefore, should not be viewed as an ambitious target, provided that the leaders of the two countries maintain the current political will for the expansion and deepening of relations between Ankara and Moscow in all spheres.
The decision of the leaders of the two countries for “enhanced cooperation” in all fields -- a move that signals their intention of abandoning their die-hard competition for dominance in Central Asia and the Caucasus -- will produce incredibly good mutual benefits for these two great states of Eurasia.