This paper focuses on Turkey’s foreign energy policy with a special focus on cases ofNabucco and South Stream Gas Pipeline Projects and examines the issue from the perspectiveof “realist theory”.The research question aims to discover the realist tendency in Turkishforeign energy policy and to find out which gas pipeline project is more beneficial in terms ofnational interest for Turkey and also relevant for meeting the goals of Turkish Foreign EnergyPolicy.Energy is the key concept of the discussions about future of our world and sustainabledevelopment. If energy functions as a subject that increases the tensions between countriesthis means a threat to sustainable development since it becomes a factor jeopardizing peaceand makes cooperation between states imporssible. Also; energy constitutes a fundamentalplace national strategies of states along with sustainable development.In order to make the theory operational, three main dimensions, being security, economicsand strategic are used as tools or in other words as filters to look through, in the analysis offoreign and energy policy, as well as cases of Nabucco and South Stream Gas Pipeline Projects.

This thesis analyzes Turkey&rsquo / s energy security and its energy cooperation with the European Union and Russia. The thesis argues that Turkey&rsquo / s energy cooperation with Russia and the European Union&rsquo / s energy dialogue between Russia contradict with Turkey&rsquo / s claim to be an exclusive energy corridor between the Caspian Sea region and the European Union. The first part of the thesis deals with the energy security issue in terms of the diversification of energy routes and pipeline politics. In the second part, Turkey&rsquo / s energy needs and its potential to become an energy corridor will be discussed. Turkey&rsquo / s energy cooperation with the European Union and Russia will be explored in the following parts of the thesis. Energy cooperation between the European Union and Russia will be analyzed in the fifth chapter. The last chapter is the conclusion.

This article explores the links between the remarkable change in Russian-Turkish foreign relations in the early 2000s and the geostrategic importance of the Caucasus for global energy security. For much of the 1990s, domestic instability and power distribution distracted both countries’ focus on regional issues. Mutual suspicion dominated the bilateral relations, when Turkey, a longstanding NATO stronghold with close ties to the United States and Europe, set out to gain ground in Russia’s traditional sphere of influence. The resulting strategic division of the Caucasus marked a period of continuity in Russian-Turkish relations and resembled the bipolar bloc formation of Cold War times. By drawing on the distinct accounts of Neo-Realism and Liberal Intergovernmentalism, this analysis provides an understanding of the determining factors that changed Russian-Turkish relations from standstill to intensified cooperation despite that national interests in the region proved to be largely consistent. Russia seeks to maintain its traditional hegemonic position and Turkey strives to become a ‘soft power’ in the region. However, central to the new phase of Russian-Turkish relations is a mutual interest in the Caucasus as a stable transport corridor for Caspian energy resources to European and global markets, and both Ankara and Moscow stand to benefit greatly from reconciling geopolitical competition and cooperation in the region.