Eurasian Energy Security: A General Perspective (original) (raw)

"Turkey's energy security in Eurasia"

Turkey's Pivot to Eurasia: Geopolitics and Foreign Policy in a Changing World Order, Seçkin Köstem and Emre Erşen (editors)' Routledge, 2019

This chapter aims to reassess the importance of Eurasia for Turkey’s energy security in light of the debate on the emergence of an alternative Eurasian orientation in Turkish foreign policy. First, as a background the importance of this region for Turkey’s energy relations in two different periods is reviewed: (i) the initial challenges in pipeline politics in the 1990s, and (ii) the role of energy security in Turkish foreign policy in the 2000s. Then, the chapter is divided into four sections. The first section presents an overview of Turkey’s policy toward the Eurasian energy pipelines in the post-Cold War period. The second section shows the recent status of Turkey’s energy relations with Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The third section questions to what extent Eurasia remains critical for Turkey’s energy security within the context of its interdependence with the energy supplying countries in the region. The argument asserts that not only strategic interests driven by trade-offs, but also a cognitive bias driven to an extent by the worldview of the recent political leadership and mostly by the national identity conception of the ruling elite are important in understanding and explaining Turkey’s energy security in Eurasia. The concluding part underlines the limitations and opportunities in Turkey’s pivot to Eurasia in light of the country’s asymmetric interdependence with Russia in energy security.

Turco-Caspian Energy Security and the Caucasus: Threats and Opportunities

Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey reached out to one another in the early 1990s to monetize and export energy resources. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil export pipeline has created the backbone for South Caucasus regional integration in the former Soviet area, including participation by Turkey. However, conflict situations involving occupation by foreign forces both in Georgia and in Azerbaijan have embedded themselves in the region. Not only the contested territories of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh make the situation dangerous. Also Iran has increased and intensified its provocations against Azerbaijan. Turkey’s energy security depends not only on its role as a consumer but also on its position as a transit country for Azerbaijani gas. With the TANAP pipeline and related projects, Azerbaijan is set to become the largest foreign investor in Turkey. When Iran promotes regional conflict in the Caucasus by threatening the territorial integrity, legitimacy and stability of the existing government, it threatens the energy security of the broader region, with the participation of Turkey.

New Developments in the EU - Central Asia Relations within the Energy Suppy Security Framework

In order to have a strong economy and to make a strong politics, it is crucial to access to cheap, reliable energy resources, especially today. However, despite the ever-increasing demand for energy, the European Union is unable to respond to the demands and imports a large portion of energy resources. At this point, Russian Federation is emerging as the main supplier of crude oil and natural gas for the European Union. The energy crisis with Ukraine and Belarus experienced by this country deeply affects the European Union. Further increase the importance of alternative routes and resources of energy in the European Union, it highlights the role of the energy-rich Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on the European Union energy supply security. The purpose of this study is to define Central Asia in the energy supply security perspective and is to determine the region’s geo-economic importance for the European Union. In the study, firstly the European Union's Central Asia policy framework is drawn, also the role of the European Union members, such as Germany on the new developments in Union's Central Asia policies is mentioned. Then, Russian factor in the policies of the European Union in Central Asia is examined, and lastly, the effects on the European Union is discussed in terms of lack of policy towards Central Asia.

Regional Security and Energy Geopolitics of Central Asia

The Russian academic journal, 2015

Regional security is a complex concept which entails several fields of studies. According to Barry Buzan (1991), five major interdisciplinary factors, viz. societal, political, economic, military, and physical environment define the concept of regional security (Buzan, 1991). SoCIETaL FaCTorS These factors deal with different identities of states such as religion, custom, culture, language and national identity (Buzan, 2004). In any country and region, societal factor do not always exist in one form. Many internal and external powers try to influence societal factor according to their needs and agenda. Central Asian society is not unique for having similarities with societies outside. In fact, Central Asian societies (CAS) have long historical relations with Iran, Arabian countries, Turkey and Russia and, therefore, they were also influenced by these societies. As a matter of fact, these countries are in a better position to influence CAS than other societies. Iran, Turkey and Russia are external forces but in Central Asian Region (CAR) they can affect CAS through their ethnic agenda. In internal forces Islam is the most powerful force to shape CAS in a different manner. In nature, Islamist forces are basically anti-West, anti-Russia, and anti-China. These forces want to establish Central Asia as an Islamic State based on Qur'anic principles (Naumkin). In future, the regional security system would depend on the social behaviour of the society. It would show ethnic and religious bond with Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, if it behaved as a religious fundamentalist society. However, the situation would be different if it behaved as a secular society. Central Asia is divided in different ethnic groups and there is a history of interethnic clashes in CAR. While no significant events of interethnic clashes have been observed after the independence of these states; the interethnicity would always be a threat to regional security because of social dynamics of the CAS. The table 1 given below exhibits the complex ethnic and religious composition of the Central Asian countries.

Hybrid threats to energy security: the South Caucasus as a focal point

The Russian federation and international security, 2020

Hybrid threats to energy security, the ways to increase the resilience against them in different regions have been one the most topical issues for the researchers in the last decade. The authors tried to assess the threats to the energy security in the South Caucasus region and beyond. The threat and risk factors have been delineated, contingent and structural risks to energy security have been studied based on retrospective analysis. Transnational energy projects, which are intended to transport Caspian energy resources have been examined. The possible effects of the hybrid threats on the security of demand and supply have been analyzed. The authors concluded the paper with conclusive recommendations for the region to further strengthen its energy security.

Corridor of Power: The Caucasus and Energy Security

Caucasian Review of International Affairs, 2008

This article examines one of the key drivers of the South Caucasus's escalating international significance, its role as both a source of and transit route for hydrocarbons. Energy security has become a significant factor driving deepening international engagement with the South Caucasus and there is a need to ensure reliable and stable export routes for hydrocarbons from the Caspian Sea region. Whilst the development of new pipeline infrastructure has brought many benefits to the area, it is still beset with unresolved conflicts that threaten to undermine the progress made in terms of economic and political stability, as well as regional cooperation .

Turkey and the changing energy geopolitics of Eurasia

Energy Policy, 2019

While Turkey's geographical location is usually viewed as a major advantage in the energy sphere, since many countries in its immediate neighbourhood require active Turkish collaboration in order to export or import oil and natural gas via economically feasible pipeline projects, the ongoing political, economic and military conflicts between the same global and regional actors not only negatively affect the development of the energy transportation routes in Eurasia, but also present a major foreign policy challenge for Ankara that has traditionally sought to maintain a careful balance in its relations with the West and Russia. The goal of this article is to elaborate on the influence of such geopolitical factors in evaluating Turkey's role in terms of the oil and natural gas pipelines that are either planned or already under construction to connect the various sub-regions of Eurasia. Employing a traditional geopolitical approach, it seeks to understand what kind of geopolitical factors come into play regarding Turkey's role in the changing energy geopolitics of Eurasia and in what ways these geopolitical factors strengthen or weaken Turkey's objective to be perceived as a regional energy hub by other actors.

TURKEY IN THE EURASIAN ENERGY SECURITY MELTING POT

2010

We are going here to look upon the theoretical, but also realistic question about Turkey future geostrategic orientation. More precisely, we are going to discuss on whether Ankara perform in the international arena as a bridge maker between Washington political realism and the EU soft power, or is it going to conduct instead as a new Ottoman nationalist and forge an energy security partnership with Russia and Iran. In fact, this is the question upon which lies the geostrategic equilibrium of the twenty-first century world order.