On March 6, the Atlantic Council IN TURKEY & Turkey programs organized a workshop in Istanbul on cooperation between Turkey and the West in the Black Sea. The workshop is being organized under the scope of a project on Black Sea cooperation in partnership with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)’s Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS). The project, “A Sea of Opportunities: Can the West Benefit from Turkey’s Autonomous Foreign Policy in the Black Sea?” is led by Atlantic Council Nonresident Senior Fellow Yevgeniya Gaber. The workshop gathered report contributors and experts to exchange views and feedback on topics covering maritime security, energy, political dialogue and defense cooperation.

Utilizing the ongoing situation in the Black Sea region as a regional case study, the project aims to answer questions related to the drivers of Turkey’s foreign policy, with particular attention to providing policy recommendations and identifying areas of opportunity for NATO partners to increase engagement with Turkey and regional countries in the Black Sea basin.