중앙아시아 대외관계 확장의 제한적 영역

Limited Area in Expansion of Foreign Relations in Central Asia : Economic Cooperation and Prospects with Turkey and Iran

Turkey and Iran, the two Islamic countries, have wielded an impact on Central Asia since the transitional period of the region. Turkey has expanded its breadth of cooperation as a development assistance donor and through educational and cultural exchanges for Central Asian countries. In addition, many Turkish companies entered Central Asia, developing trade and economic cooperation actively. But the economic impact of Turkey will not expand into Central Asian countries other than Turkmenistan, because there is no significant effect of economic cooperation with Turkey in other countries. The economic relationship between Iran and Central Asian countries is going to develop more than before because of reconstruction efforts of the Iranian government and the removal of the economic sanctions by Western countries. However, economic cooperation with Central Asia and Iran will also develop with Turkmenistan through gas pipelines and a North-South Transnational Railway connecting Turkmenistan and Iran. Therefore, Turkmenistan will be a key country in Central Asian regional economic cooperation with Turkey and Iran, whereas the cooperation of Turkey and Iran with other Central Asian countries is expected to be limited