82
have presented an issue for Russia as it could impact the country’s dominance of the
European market.
According to Mert Bilgin, there is a direct link between Turkey’s Pipeline Politics
and domestic energy issues. Turkey’s energy discourse has now shifted to a stage
which can be described as “retrospective energy strategy,” led by its interactions
with various states and organizations. For instance:
1. The US has promoted oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Basin, which has
led to BTC oil and BTE natural gas pipelines.
2. The EU, especially Italy and Greece, has led to gas pipelines running from
Turkey- Greece-Italy, and the Nabucco project
3. Russia supports the Blue Stream and Russia West natural gas pipelines, as well
as in the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline
4. Georgia and Azerbaijan have worked actively with Turkey to bring about gas and
oil transits from the Caspian Basin to Turkey
5. Iran supports the Tabriz-Erzurum-Ankara gas pipeline and the transport of
Turkmen gas to Turkey via Iran
6. Iraq pumps oil along the Kirkuk-Yumurcalik pipeline and entertains the possibility of incorporating Iraqi gas within the Nabucco project
7. Syria, Egypt, and Iraq support the addition of an Arab Gas pipeline to Turkey,
and possibly to Europe via Nabucco
8. Qatar is interested in the idea of a natural gas pipeline and increased LNG trade
with Turkey
9. Israel is interested in a pipeline stemming from Ceyhan-Haifa
International pipeline projects such as these, linking energy to Europe allows for
the best means of convergence between the Caucasus and Central Asia and the West
and has the potential to contribute greatly to stability and prosperity in the region.
At the same time, Turkey is trying to play a major role in the transportation of this
oil and natural gas, cementing its role as an East-West Energy Corridor, with reference to constituting the Silk Road of the twenty-first Century (www.mfa.gov.
tr 2017).
Turkish Political Model
Many analysts have argued that Turkey offers a model of governance that can be
exported around the region. Slightly beyond Turkey’s immediate neighborhood, in
the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, are states who have failed to achieve a fully
robust degree of national sovereignty and stability in the two decades since the collapse of the Soviet model, and with Turkey’s ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic connections with the Caspian Sea States and Central Asia, there are many
opportunities for recovery based on a degree of Turkic cooperation, as envisioned
by Turkey’s “brotherly neighborhood” policy (Denoon 2015:297). Although the
“Turkish Model” was not taken seriously in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea in the
3 International Context of the New Era and the Caspian Sea Region
have presented an issue for Russia as it could impact the country’s dominance of the
European market.
According to Mert Bilgin, there is a direct link between Turkey’s Pipeline Politics
and domestic energy issues. Turkey’s energy discourse has now shifted to a stage
which can be described as “retrospective energy strategy,” led by its interactions
with various states and organizations. For instance:
1. The US has promoted oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Basin, which has
led to BTC oil and BTE natural gas pipelines.
2. The EU, especially Italy and Greece, has led to gas pipelines running from
Turkey- Greece-Italy, and the Nabucco project
3. Russia supports the Blue Stream and Russia West natural gas pipelines, as well
as in the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline
4. Georgia and Azerbaijan have worked actively with Turkey to bring about gas and
oil transits from the Caspian Basin to Turkey
5. Iran supports the Tabriz-Erzurum-Ankara gas pipeline and the transport of
Turkmen gas to Turkey via Iran
6. Iraq pumps oil along the Kirkuk-Yumurcalik pipeline and entertains the possibility of incorporating Iraqi gas within the Nabucco project
7. Syria, Egypt, and Iraq support the addition of an Arab Gas pipeline to Turkey,
and possibly to Europe via Nabucco
8. Qatar is interested in the idea of a natural gas pipeline and increased LNG trade
with Turkey
9. Israel is interested in a pipeline stemming from Ceyhan-Haifa
International pipeline projects such as these, linking energy to Europe allows for
the best means of convergence between the Caucasus and Central Asia and the West
and has the potential to contribute greatly to stability and prosperity in the region.
At the same time, Turkey is trying to play a major role in the transportation of this
oil and natural gas, cementing its role as an East-West Energy Corridor, with reference to constituting the Silk Road of the twenty-first Century (www.mfa.gov.
tr 2017).
Turkish Political Model
Many analysts have argued that Turkey offers a model of governance that can be
exported around the region. Slightly beyond Turkey’s immediate neighborhood, in
the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, are states who have failed to achieve a fully
robust degree of national sovereignty and stability in the two decades since the collapse of the Soviet model, and with Turkey’s ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic connections with the Caspian Sea States and Central Asia, there are many
opportunities for recovery based on a degree of Turkic cooperation, as envisioned
by Turkey’s “brotherly neighborhood” policy (Denoon 2015:297). Although the
“Turkish Model” was not taken seriously in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea in the
3 International Context of the New Era and the Caspian Sea Region