ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact of separatist Chechen and Kurdish movements on Turkish-Russian relations. Chechnya came to the attention of Turkey when Shamil Basayev hijacked an Aeroflot jet with its 178 passengers and re-routed it to Ankara on November 9, 1991. For the Turkish government, the Chechen issue was an internal matter for Russia, to be resolved within the confines of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and without losing emphasis on respect for human rights. Russia retaliated to Chechen sympathy in Turkey by permitting the convening of conferences and congresses which were organized by the Kurdish National Liberation Front (ERNK), the political wing of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and opening up a Kurdish House in Moscow. Moscow's overtures to Ankara for better political relations from the highest echelons of the Russian state in the early 2000s contributed greatly to the change of mind of Turkish authorities pertaining to the Chechen matter.
