ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship of Turkey and Iran with some of the former Soviet republics, and their role in opening up the former Soviet southern republics to the world. It must be emphasized, however, that the relations between Russia on one hand and Turkey and Iran, respectively, on the other gained both momentum and diversity after 1991, as conditioned by their changed positions toward each other and Central Asia and the Caucasus. Turkey, and to a much lesser extent Iran, played key roles in paving the way for incorporating the new states of the former Soviet Union into the world political and economic system. The relations between Russia and Turkey, except for their excellent trade relationship, are being made increasingly tense by the complex affairs of the former Soviet republics. Just as Turkey helped the West to bring the new states into the world system, Iran may now help Russia to pull them out.
