With the independence of “the Turkic world", in the aftermath of disintegration of the former Soviet Union, Türkiye envisioned opportunities and challenges in the Central Asia region. Despite Ankara’s attention to the region having waned since the early 1990s, the Central Asian states maintain a special place in Turkish foreign policy given ethno-linguistic Turkic ties. This paper explores Türkiye’s relations with Central Asia and the implications for its engagement on conflict in the region. The voluminous work examines Türkiye as an emerging great power, then provides an overview of Türkiye's previous historical relations with Central Asia, as well as comprehensively examines today's bilateral Turkish-Central Asian relations, multilateral forums, economic relations, aid and security cooperation. Türkiye in Central Asia is an in-depth study of the historic-cultural, political and economic dimensions of the policy of Türkiye towards the Central Asian region of the erstwhile Soviet Union by the leading specialist on modern Türkiye Prof. S. K. Asopa. The book concludes with some key questions for future research related to Türkiye’s role in Central Asian conflict management.

Szabolcs Veres is a researcher at the Eurasia Center