South Caucasus after the collapse of the Soviet Union and their impact on Turkish-Russian relations. Active policies pursued by Turkey in the region followed the collapse of the USSR and the independence of the three republics. Turkish authorities believed that the southern borders of Russia were surrounded by a political vacuum.

Reference is made to the most important aspects of regional competition between Turkey and Russia in the 1990s, in particular, the establishment of Russian military bases in Georgia and Armenia at the time, which Turkey saw as a violation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. Turkish-Russian competition is also considered in the context of key aspects of military cooperation among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, especially the regular trilateral meetings of their defense ministers.