Historical Roots of Iran-Turkey Relations

This article examines the oscillations of Iran-Ottoman/Turkey relations since the early 1820s to the present particularly from the viewpoints of Ottoman/Turkish political-military elites. The study displays that there were two parallel simultaneous trends of collaboration and competition between the two countries: cooperation in economic, political and partly in military matters, and differences on Kurd, Armenian and Azeri minorities. Although with the advent of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, mutual economic interests continued to act as a coordinating factor, ideological differences caused certain disagreements. The author finally suggests that Iran-Turkey ties in this period were mainly affected by historical, geographical and strategic realities rather than determined by leaders or regimes.