site.btaTurkey: A Possible Key Player in Europe's Energy Security?

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe stepped up its efforts to discard its reliance on Russian oil and gas and to find new energy sources. In this context Turkey, which emerged as a key mediator in the quest for a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, could also play an important role in the diversification of energy supplies to Europe.

The shortest and cheapest route for natural gas transmission from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe runs through Turkey, the country's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said in a Saturday interview for CNN-Turk. The implementation of a hypothetical Israel-Turkey pipeline project should be in line with the two countries' interests, he added. Such a project would require a 500-600 km pipeline to transport the natural gas to Turkey. Initially, the country's existing gas infrastructure capacity would suffice for transportation inside the country and towards Europe. However, additional pipelines may be needed if larger volumes of natural gas should be transported in the future.

This is the shortest route for transporting Israeli gas to Europe, the other route (i.e. the EastMed gas pipeline project) would require a two to three times longer pipeline, Donmez stressed. In January, citing the economic and environmental viability of the project, the US withdrew its political support for EastMed, which was supposed to transport gas through Greece to Italy and elsewhere in the EU from gas fields off Cyprus and Israel. 

The comments came after last week's official visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey when both sides declared the beginning of a new era in relations after years of tension. After the talks with his Israeli counterpart, Erdogan said that Turkey was ready to work with Israel in the field of energy and that cooperation in natural gas transmission was of particular interest to both. The Sabah daily noted that discussions involving natural gas had obviously been prioritized during Herzog's visit because of the conflict in Ukraine. 

Such cooperation between Israel and Turkey would be the strongest glue and guarantee of bilateral relations, according to Sabah analyst Bilgehan Ozturk. In his opinion, now that the West wants to shrug off dependence on Russian natural gas, cooperation between Turkey and Israel in this sphere will meet with great support.

In turn, Donmez said he would visit Israel in April to discuss energy cooperation.

In another development, at their March 10 meeting in Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev discussed increasing gas supply to Turkey and Europe along the Southern Gas Corridor, a press release of the Azerbaijani Presidency said. During their meeting, the two leaders also expressed their views on the contribution of their countries' cooperation to the energy security of Europe, according to a statement by Turkey's Communications Directorate quoted by Anadolu agency.

Milliyet analyst Didem Ozel Tumer points out that at last week's Antalya Diplomacy Forum Azerbaijan and Turkey had sent a "joint energy message to Europe". Speaking at the forum's Confusion in Energy Security session, Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov said his country would increase natural gas supply to Europe via Turkey and that the matter was currently being discussed with the EU and Ankara. Azerbaijan has 2.6 trillion bmc approved gas reserves, sufficient to cover its own needs, those of its partners and Europe for 100 years, Shahbazov said, adding that "together with Turkey, we can ship large volumes of gas to Europe". Nor did the minister forget to mention the option of wind energy.

The 3,500 km Southern Gas Corridor stretches from Azerbaijan to Italy through Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania. It includes the South Caucasus Pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. 

Speaking at the same venue, Turkish Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar underscored that various energy source transfer routes could pass through Turkey. Besides Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan also has large natural gas reserves, he noted. Mentioning Iraq's and Israel's reserves, Bayraktar concluded that there are "good opportunities and various alternatives". 

The energy sphere is obviously one promising field for Turkey's cooperation with countries in the region. In the new political realities, Turkey is emerging as a country that could be a key player in providing Europe's energy security.