Bridging the Gap: Turkey Between East and West

Mar 5, 2025

Also published in House Foreign Affairs Committee
About the Authors
Anna Borshchevskaya
Anna Borshchevskaya

Anna Borshchevskaya is the Harold Grinspoon Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East.

Articles & Testimony

An expert testifies on Turkey’s new position in Syria and shifting power relations with Russia, explaining how Washington can use both to help resolve the Ukraine war and shift U.S. strategic investments toward the Indo-Pacific.

The following is an excerpt from prepared remarks submitted to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe. To read the full testimony, download the PDF on this page.

Chairman Self, Ranking Member Keating, honorable members, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. President Vladimir Putin made Russia’s war in Ukraine about the United States and the West more broadly. How the war ends will have far-reaching implications for America’s credibility, security, and economy. It will also affect American allies and partners across the world. A Russian victory could lead to a bigger confrontation with NATO and its partners. In this context, the United States has an interest in focusing on a constructive, pragmatic relationship with Turkey. My testimony will cover three key issues. First, Turkey now has the potential to emerge as the primary naval power in the Black Sea. Second, the Russia-Turkey relationship is no longer decisively tilted in Russia’s favor, though Russia still retains some advantages. Third, Turkey has maintained a pragmatic balancing act between Ukraine, Moscow, and NATO since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is in our interest to be just as pragmatic...

 

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