Turkey as an Emerging Energy Hub: Ambitions vs. Reality

Turkey aims to become a key energy hub through alternative pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, but most projects remain stalled.

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” (Sun Tzu)

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” (Sun Tzu)

Turkish officials are now entitling the Hormuz dilemma as the ‘Mother of all Crises.’ According to Ankara’s Ambassador to Damascus, Nuh Yilmaz noted, “Turkey is now a major player because its current energy infrastructure is operational. Turkey is presently the safest, quickest, least expensive, and most reliable route. The energy distribution now traveling via the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez Canal may reach a point where a larger proportion is allocated to Turkey.” Thus, its pivotal geographic position and the presence of vast natural resources in the Middle East have made the centrality of Turkey inevitable.

Emerging Energy Architecture

A. Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline

This initiative targets gas exportation from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea that will eventually be delivered to Europe via Turkey. Turkmenistan is an important exporter of gas, with a potential of 80 billion cubic meters per year. Turkmenistan has some of the biggest gas fields in the world, with the Galkynysh Gas Field being one of them. This Turkmen gas would be carried via a 300 km long pipeline in the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. Then, the already existing energy corridors, such as the South Caucasus Pipeline, Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, will be utilized to access the European markets.

B. Qatar-Turkey Pipeline

This project, envisioned in 2009, proposed a gas........

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