title: Russian-Turkish Relations and Their Implications for the Western Balkans
abstract: The history of Russian-Turkish relations extends far into the past and is marked by numerous striking moments and unexpected turns.The nature of their relations, far beyond mere trade connections, has been shaped by mutual conflicts, as evidenced by the fact that Turks, more frequently than other nations, have been adversaries of Russia on the battlefield.The relations between Russia and Turkey are characterised by complexity and cooperative competition: on the one hand, there is an increase in 