Investigating the clash of geopolitical interests of Iran and Türkiye in Central Asia and the Caucasus

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the field of competition in Central Asia and the Far East became available for Iran and Turkey. The ideological vacuum caused by the collapse of Syria led to the fact that Turkey, with the support of the West, could use the theory of strategic depth to seek ways of influence and alliance with the countries of the region. This country shares historical, cultural and linguistic commonality with the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. In this regard, Turkey was able to promote its ideology by establishing effective institutions in promoting Pan-Turkist ideas. The arena of competition between Iran and Türkiye in the region has become complicated and it seems that the two countries have clashed geopolitical interests in the region. Turkey's ideology is based on secular thinking and Iran's is based on nation-centered thinking. Therefore, the intersection of ideological ideas has also occurred in different fields. In recent years, new campaigns and processes of power are emerging in Central Asia and the Caucasus, which may have created a new structure of power play between regional and extra-regional countries. Regardless of the geopolitical value of this region, it is considered a geopolitical arena for Iran in competition with its other regional competitors, so the loss of strategic depth in this region will have a negative effect on Iran's ability to maneuver in competition with other regional competitors. Therefore, the research seeks to answer the question, "What are the components of the conflict between the geopolitical interests of Iran and Turkey in Central Asia and the Caucasus".

The current research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the clash of geopolitical interests of Iran and Türkiye and extract the geopolitical components of this issue. The current research method is qualitative and the data analysis strategy is inductive. Therefore, by using the descriptive-analytical approach and collecting data in a documentary-library form and by studying books, articles and also online resources, inferences have been made from the discussion.

Türkiye's foreign policy based on the theory of strategic depth is looking for a way to penetrate Central Asia using the Caucasus route. This is the most important gate for this country in order to develop economic relations and trade relations with the mentioned regions. Linguistic, racial and ethnic similarity, the framework of secular governments, the revival of Turkish nationalism using the concept of pan-Turkism and historical-cultural commonalities are the factors that lead to the use of the geopolitical approach of influence in the countries of the region and the clash of interests with the Islamic Republic of Iran. What was inferred in the research studies is the conflict of interests including political-ideological, political-nationalist, economic and Karabakh war components. The political and ideological problem has been created from the political systems, different attitudes and structures and the specific ideology of the ruler in the two countries. Türkiye has a secular attitude and Iran is nation-oriented. In the political and nationalistic issue, Turkey's emphasis is on ethnicity and pan-Turkism. The roots of this difference can be considered the thoughts of Turkish nationalism. In the economic field, due to sanctions and lack of attention to regional countries, Turkey's financial transactions with these countries are much more than with Iran. Finally, the Karabakh war, which had geopolitical reasons, increased the differences and the field of conflict was clearly defined.

The different and competitive roles of Turkey and Iran cause a clash of geopolitical interests in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Finally, the pattern of behavior of the two countries has been led to conflict, competition and confrontation. Iran's advantage over Turkey in these areas is Iran's common border with other countries, as opposed to Turkey's border of a few kilometers in Nakhchivan with Azerbaijan, so it can be claimed that Turkey practically does not have a border with this country. Also, Iran's traditional ties with the Transcaucasia peoples are that unlike the Armenian-Turkish relations, there is no feeling of dissatisfaction and insult to the past. As long as the two countries are in a similar situation in terms of the extent of power, they will consider any relations, behavior and developments with the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus as vital, and we will witness serious differences between the two countries. This challenge will become more serious with the increasing power of Türkiye and Iran. Because the two countries seek to increase their geopolitical influence in the region by increasing their power. This role will cause the two countries' strategies to overlap, and as a result, the pattern of competition, conflict and confrontation between Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran will increase.