Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics
January 2012

Key Points:

• Russia’s Gazprom announces that the South Stream gas pipeline project will begin construction ahead of schedule in December 2012, putting NABUCCO in an increasingly precarious position.
• Turkey slips further down the rankings of the media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, press freedom rankings, now 148 out of 178 countries. This development comes following the fifth anniversary of the killing of writer Hrant Dink and a ruling in the case of his death stating that it was not the result of organized crime.
• Former Turkish Military (TSK) Chief of Staff, Ilker Basbug, was arrested on charges of supporting websites that were part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government. The military remains quiet on the matter, indicating that the ruling AKP government has triumphed in keeping the TSK under full civilian control. But the wide swath of those accused of complicity in conspiracy investigations continues to draw criticism at home and abroad.
• Both houses of the French parliament pass a law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide, with Turkish politicians voicing their outrage at the decision against a backdrop where relations between Paris and Ankara are at the lowest level in recent memory.
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• February 21, 2012

“There needs to be a significant Azerbaijani gas supply to Europe, and that will enhance European energy security and position Azerbaijan as a major player in the international arena”

• February 18, 2012

Turkmenistan's authoritarian president was sworn in Friday for a second term during a lavish ceremony filled with adulation for the man increasingly referred to as the "protector" of this tightly controlled, resource-rich nation.

• February 17, 2012

European milling wheat futures rose on
Friday as hopes Greece will clinch a long-awaited bailout deal heartened
investors and as a report Ukraine will limit wheat exports for the rest of the
season added some fundamental support.    

• February 17, 2012

The Russian Embassy in Ukraine will submit a proposal to the leadership of the Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Ministry to resume gas talks

• February 17, 2012

A group of European vote monitors say they have been denied a meeting with Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin because of his busy schedule

• February 11, 2012

Afflicted by an unusually cold spell, and with diplomatic tensions in its neighbourhood adding pressure on energy supplies, the European Commission is backing future gas deliveries from Azerbaijan, irrespective of the pipeline used, Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told dpa in an interview conducted in Brussels this week.

• February 10, 2012

"We are ready, upon official request from Russia, to grant extra gas to Europe," said Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko. In his interview to CNN, the Ukrainian minister explained that currently Ukraine receives 400 million cubic meters of gas per day on its eastern border instead of the required 500 million due to extremely cold weather in Russia. This caused a drop in the amount of gas Europe received through Ukrainian pipeline.

• February 10, 2012