Publication
EGF Turkey File  PDF  (148 Kb) Members only


August 2010

John Van Pool 
EGF Turkey Geopolitics Analyst

Key Positions:

• Terrorism-related acts of sabotage, linked to the outlawed Kurdish-separatist group, the PKK, took place on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline on 10 August, disrupting production 

• The Moscow-backed South Stream gas pipeline has been losing support amongst influential stakeholders in the region (the Italian Energy company, ENI, has raised concerns that the project will not be commercially viable) 

• Turkey appears to be slowly correcting its energy policy shortcomings of the past with Russia, and Ankara now seeks a more balanced energy partnership with Moscow 

• Conciliatory gestures towards Turkey’s Kurds by the present Ankara government appear to have done little to ease tensions in the country’s south east, which is heavily populated by Kurdish minorities. READ MORE

  • John Van Pool  |  Published on EGF: 29.08.2010  |  External Relations
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Securing Energy and Building Regional Security: EU-Turkey Cooperation in the Black and Caspian Seas Basin  PDF  (142 Kb)

Turkey’s importance to the EU should not be underestimated
Turkey’s unique geopolitical position, straddling both Europe and Asia (encompassing its proximity in the Middle East, Caucuses, Balkans, and Black & Caspian Sea regions specifically), has placed the country into a very advantageous position amongst all actors that are involved in any of these areas. Its longstanding membership in NATO and the Council of Europe, in addition to its historical military partnership with Israel, further underscores the fact that Turkey has long been, and continues to be, a partner of strategic importance to the West. Furthermore, with no end in sight to Europe’s reliance on imported Eurasian and Russian gas supplies, Turkey’s territory is the crossroads for the planned NABUCCO gas pipeline, which intends to decrease European reliance on Russian gas.

  • EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 02.06.2010  |  Energy
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Turkey: Domestic Security Outlook Members only

Key issues:

  • Special operations continue in Turkey’s south east;
  • PKK conflict taking on a more complex character;
  • Many detained in domestic crackdowns;
  • State-sponsored Kurdish militias involved in massacre;
  • Islamic threat to secular elite deemed real;
  • Government hardens position on secular elites;
  • Clandestine plot to overthrown Turkish government;
  • Corruption not the key obstacle in Turkey’s EU accession talks.

  • EGF Editorial  |  Published on EGF: 25.06.2009  |  Security
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