Turkey – balancing politics and gas
Turkey is securing new supplies for its expanding gas market, but must balance this with complicated political relationships.
Although Turkey has sought to diversify its gas imports, it remains heavily dependent on gas from Russia and this is unlikely to change any time soon. Turkey is in a key geographical position as a bridge between major gas supplies and major gas markets. However, it has to balance the needs of its gas market with complicated bilateral and geopolitical relations. With a new long-term Gazprom deal announced at the end of November, it would appear any significant shift away from Russian supply dependence is further away than Ankara would like.
As it is nearly completely dependent on imported gas, Turkey has to work to ensure its security of supply. The country's support of and investment in various competing transit lines, as well as the careful separation of politics and gas which it must maintain with its key suppliers, is evidence of this.