Tag: Energy

  • Iran offers Armenia energy line of credit

    Iran offers Armenia energy line of credit

    TEHRAN, April 14 (UPI) — Meeting with the visiting Armenian energy minister Tuesday, Iranian finance officials pledged to support the energy sector in Armenia with a line of credit.

    Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan met with Iranian Finance Minister Shamseddin Hosseini to discuss trade issues and Iran’s offer of economic assistance, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency reports.

    Movsisyan expressed his gratification for a line of credit offered through the Export Development Bank of Iran, saying the move was part of an expanding trade relationship between both countries.

    Armenia in March announced it had begun construction on a 186-mile pipeline to bring oil products from the Tabriz refinery in northern Iran in exchange for electricity.

    The project would bring 81 billion cubic feet of natural gas from refineries in Tabriz each year, which is about the same amount Armenia imports from Russia currently through Georgia.

    Movsisyan was part of a high-level delegation from Armenia that arrived in Tehran on Monday to discuss bilateral ties.

    https://www.upi.com/Energy_Resources/2009/04/14/Iran-offers-Armenia-energy-line-of-credit/UPI-27631239717538/

  • EU needs to open energy accession chapter with Turkey

    EU needs to open energy accession chapter with Turkey

    ALEXANDROS PETERSEN

    06.04.2009 @ 12:08 CET

    EUOBSERVER / COMMENT – The White House is touting President Obama’s visit to Turkey as the cure-all that will not only put US-Turkey relations back on track, but help to resolve some of Europe’s energy security concerns.

    However, media attention has focused on Mr Obama’s campaign pledge to refer to Turkey’s “genocide” of Armenians in the 20th century, and whether he will backtrack on that language in deference to his hosts. When it comes to the region’s energy geopolitics, however, it is to Turkey’s relations with another Caucasus neighbour, Azerbaijan, that Mr Obama should turn his focus.

    The Bosphorus straits: Turkey is a vital energy route for Europe (Photo: wikipedia)

    One nation, two countries is what they used to say about Azerbaijan and Turkey. Their culture, language and heritage have much in common, and since Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia in the early 1990s, Turkey has supported its linguistic brethren by keeping its border with Armenia closed.

    In the past few months, however, Azerbaijani-Turkish relations have become significantly strained, not just because Ankara is entertaining closer ties, including an open border, with Yerevan, but because Ankara and Baku are locked in a struggle over natural gas supplies to Europe. Interestingly, exactly the same issue has at the same time fostered increasingly close relations between Azerbaijan and Greece.

    Turkey turning into energy trader with EU

    At issue is the so-called Turkey-Greece Interconnector gas pipeline, which is to be eventually expanded across the Adriatic to Italy.

    Once completed, this route would theoretically bring Azerbaijan’s Caspian gas resources to energy-hungry southeastern Europe, helping to ameliorate the EU’s overdependence on Russian reserves.

    The idea conjured during the Clinton administration, and still pushed by Mr Obama’s newly appointed officials, is that Turkey will serve as an alternative corridor, not under the control of unpredictable decision-makers in the Kremlin.

    But, as Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has become increasingly frustrated with the EU’s mixed signals on membership for Turkey, he has pointedly chosen to emulate Moscow in Turkey’s energy relationship with the Union.

    As the EU continues to stall on opening the energy chapter of Turkey’s accession negotiations, Ankara’s policy is now to become an energy middle man, not an energy partner for Europe.

    So, instead of being a conduit for Azerbaijani gas to Greece and elsewhere on the continent, Turkey is now attempting to strong-arm Baku into selling its gas at discount prices to Ankara, so that Turkey can sell it at almost four times the price to European consumers.

    Russia’s attempt to do this with Caspian gas during the past two decades is exactly what prompted countries like Azerbaijan – and attracted US involvement – to seek alternative routes such as Turkey.

    Now, Azerbaijan’s leadership is naturally peeved at Turkish decision-makers, choosing instead to work on the other piece of the corridor, namely Greece.

    Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev visited Athens in February and was greeted warmly by Prime Minister Karamanlis as the two countries agreed on cooperation in a number of spheres: economic, political and energy.

    The Azerbaijan-Greece intergovernmental economic commission, which has met since 2005, is now stepping up its activities. Greek companies are increasingly investing in Azerbaijan’s still-growing economy, and not just in the energy sector. As Mr Obama courts Turkey, Baku has a greater friend in Athens than in Ankara.

    Need for more EU involvement in Black Sea region

    Either way, both Azerbaijan and Greece lose out if Turkey remains an obstacle to the expansion of the Turkey-Greece Interconnector.

    The crux of the problem lies in the pace of Western integration in the broader Black Sea region. Despite its cultural, linguistic and historical ties to Cyprus, Greece supports Turkey’s EU accession because its leadership is aware of the enormous benefits in regional development, security and cooperation that can be accrued with the broader region’s greater integration.

    While Turkish tactics are certainly questionable, Ankara’s strategic EU accession aims are not only legitimate, but central to the transformation of Europe’s periphery.

    At the moment, intransigence by EU member states, such as France and Germany, on the

    energy chapter of Turkey’s accession process is not only whipping up a backlash in Turkey, but jeopardizing the EU’s energy security and undermining positive links between EU members such as Greece and EU neighbours like Azerbaijan.

    If the current conundrum continues, the only way out for Azerbaijan will be to turn to Russia – now offering Baku better prices for gas than Turkey.

    Two days before his Turkey visit, Mr Obama will meet Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy. If he is serious about helping to ameliorate EU energy security, he will politely remind his French and German counterparts that opening Turkey’s energy accession chapter is the first step in acting in their own interests.

    Alexandros Petersen is Dinu Patriciu fellow for Transatlantic energy security and associate director of the Eurasia Energy Centre at the Atlantic Council of the United States.

    https://euobserver.com/opinion/27904

  • Turkey Country Analysis Brief

    Turkey Country Analysis Brief

    U.S. Department of Energy   
    Energy Information Administration

    For information on the energy situation in Turkey, please see our updated Country Analysis Brief:

    Also included are a map, graph, and links to other related web sites.

  • Outreach to Armenia prompts Azeri threat

    Outreach to Armenia prompts Azeri threat

    by Barçın Yinanç

    ISTANBUL -Concerned that the Turkish government might open its border with Armenia before reconciliation is reached, the Azerbaijani government has signaled it might stop selling natural gas to Turkey.

    Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told third parties that Baku would cut gas supplies to Turkey if Ankara reaches an agreement with Yerevan before substantial progress is underway on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned. As a sign of how serious it is, Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia last week for long-term supply of gas at market prices.

    Turkey and Armenia have been holding talks to normalize ties, which would involve the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders. Although Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia in 1991, Ankara has no diplomatic relations with its neighbor. In 1993, Ankara closed its border with Armenia in an act of solidarity with Azerbaijan after Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

    Turkey and Armenia are said to have come very close to an agreement on the timetable to normalize relations. As April 24 is approaching, the date each year when the United States issues a presidential statement on the World War I mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, expectations are high that Turkey and Armenia will announce an agreement. U.S. President Barack Obama had pledged to recognize the Armenian killings as “genocide” during his election campaign. A joint statement by Turkish and Armenian officials on the normalization of relations might prevent Obama from using the word “genocide.”

    This development in turn has upset the Azerbaijani government, which argues a decision to open Turkey’s borders with Armenia would leave Baku at a disadvantage in negotiating for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territory. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has been the target of severe criticism in the Azerbaijani press with commentators there accusing the Turkish government of selling out. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has been informed that Aliyev has told third parties that were Turkey to open its borders to Armenia, cooperation on energy supplies would end.

    Ankara and Baku have been trying to reach an agreement over the price of natural gas Turkey buys from Azerbaijan through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline. The agreement to buy natural gas for $120 per 1,000 cubic meters for the duration of the first year following the opening of the pipeline has long ended and the two failed to reach an agreement as Azerbaijan wants to sell its gas at international market prices, which is around $350 per 1,000 cubic meters.

    Russia, on the other hand, has been courting Azerbaijan to buy its gas at international market prices in order to undermine the Nabucco project, which aims to bring Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey. Gazprom and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan last week signed a memorandum of understanding for long-term supplies of Central Asian gas to Russia at market prices, Web site Euractiv.com reported yesterday. According to Gazprom’s press release, the parties committed to massive long-term cooperation after an agreement was reached March 27 to settle the terms of Azerbaijan’s gas sales to Russia.

    Pavel K. Baev, a senior researcher from the Oslo International Research Institute, said the project could make Nabucco irrelevant as Azerbaijan is seen as the most likely gas supplier for Nabucco. The Turkish government is under pressure from the Obama administration to finalize and announce the agreement with Yerevan. Turkey and Armenia have agreed on most of the wording of a protocol for normalization but there are still some points where the two need to agree. The Turkish side wants to insert the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh in the protocol, but the Armenian side has not been compromising on the issue.

  • KEYNOTE SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF TURKEY

    KEYNOTE SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF TURKEY

    KEYNOTE SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY AT THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS SUMMIT

    (BRUSSELS, 26 MARCH 2009)

    Distinguished Guests,

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    It is a great pleasure for me to participate in the Seventh European Business Summit. I am confident that, the Summit will provide to the business community yet another occasion to address important problems that face Europe, at present.

    Business people will better know that, the “fine line” between success and failure is the ability to shape perceptions according to changing conditions. I believe that the same applies to international affairs.

    To influence global developments, we should be able to renew our perceptions about political, social and economic challenges.

    The European Union was conceived by such visionary leaders as Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman: They have changed the perceptions about the future of Europe by launching the idea of a united continent.

    This project started as a marriage of coal and steel. However, today, the same project has reached the dimension of a political, economic and social integration process. The dream of a “European Union” is today a reality.

    Furthermore, the European Union is now poised to be a major force to run world affairs in the 21st century.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    While the EU is now a global economic and political powerhouse, it is not immune to global challenges.

    Quite the opposite!

    The most immediate challenge the EU, together with the world community, faces is the recent global financial and economic crisis. This is a testing time for Europe. But Europe has faced other challenges in the past. It has always succeeded in overcoming them. Europe should be confident in its capacity to overcome today’s ordeal and emerge from it even stronger.

    The EU today draws its strength from the sense of common destiny, with its common values, policies and institutions. It is well equipped to face present challenges.

    I have no doubt that at the end, thanks to the truly European spirit of debate and compromise, we shall emerge from this crisis stronger than before. Such a debate has already started to produce creative ideas.

    The EU’s greatest achievements of the last decades, from the “Single Market” to “enlargement”, have all been the results of acting collectively and responsibly in an inclusive way. Today, the EU, employing the same principles and instruments, is finding the right path to its political and economic future.

    No one can claim that, in the face of today’s economic, political and social crises, an inward-looking, divided, weak or smaller EU would be better off.

    Distinguished Guests,

    Turkey, as an accession country, a member of the G-20, and the sixth largest European economy, is uniquely placed to work hand in hand with the EU to overcome the global economic crisis which started out in the financial markets.

    Turkey is ready to do its share in order to deal with this global economic crisis and to provide sustainable solutions. Indeed, Turkey went through such a financial crisis in 2001. We lost almost one fourth of our GDP. As a result, we made extensive structural reforms focused on strengthening the regulatory bodies. This proved to be an expensive but valuable lesson. At least today, our banking system is very sound.

    We all know that the basis of economic activity is transparency and trust. Therefore, while reforming the financial system, this basic tenet must be upheld. We share the consensus view that governments, central banks and the business world must engage in strong collective action in this direction.

    We must also stimulate economic growth while keeping inflation under control. Therefore, it is essential to support the real economy and at the same time promote social solidarity.

    We need to give much thought to a new global financial architecture based on supervision and regulation. It is a positive development, that such issues are now being dealt with, not only at the national level, but also at the supranational level. In this direction, the World Bank, the IMF and other financial organizations need to be restructured to answer the requirements of modern economic times.

    A well-regulated free market economy should definitely continue to be our main point of reference. We should never overlook the productivity brought about by private sector activity. Although the shares of some financial institutions have been or will have to be transferred to national treasuries, these shares should come back to the hands of the private sector whenever conditions permit.

    Protectionism is also a dangerous trend. In the medium to long term, it is our own people, the consumers, who pay the price of protectionist policies. At the end of the day, such policies hurt everybody.

    In this respect, Turkey is ready to cooperate with the EU at the G-20 and the Doha Round.

    I hope that the EU will also stand up for the basic principles which have made it a great economy.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Let us consider some of the major challenges facing Europe today:

    Economic recession; Unemployment; Demographic decline; Illegal immigration; Terrorism; Energy security; Climate change and others.

    I am convinced that all of these challenges will be tackled much more effectively when the EU finally enlarges to Turkey. The ties that bind Turkey and the EU together are already strong and deep-rooted:

    – Our common values, like democracy, rule of law and human rights,

    – Our strong economic partnership framed by a highly successful Customs Union,

    – Our shared interests on matters like energy security, good governance, effective regulation of the free market and the fight against poverty,

    – Our joint objectives of expanding peace and stability in our region and beyond.

    The interests of Turkey and the EU overlap in a vast geography and across many areas.

    Turkey’s geography and its historical ties in a large region covering the Balkans, the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia give it unique opportunities. Out of the thirteen European Security and Defense Policy missions worldwide, seven are being conducted in Turkey’s neighborhood. Turkey is the largest non-EU contributor to ESDP missions.

    On issues as diverse as Iran, Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Georgia, Kosovo and others, Turkey’s efforts directed at facilitating dialogue and compromise are clearly constructive. Just to cite a few examples:

    – Israel and Syria began indirect peace talks under Turkey’s auspices.

    – Turkey, together with Egypt, is actively working for inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

    – My trips to Baghdad two days ago and to Teheran two weeks ago are indications of our efforts to contribute to international peace and stability.

    – Next week, we shall bring together the Presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan together with their military and intelligence officials in Ankara.

    – My first-ever trip to Armenia last year and our initiative for the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform have been part of our commitment to a better atmosphere in the Caucasus region.

    In short, Turkey is a force for good in a number of the world’s principal pressure points. Clearly, increased synergy between Turkey and the EU will be to our mutual benefit.

    Therefore, obstacles preventing benefits of such a synergy, like the Cyprus issue, should be removed before wasting more time and losing more opportunities. Turkey and Turkish Cypriots have already done their share for a peaceful settlement of this issue. We are committed to continue in the same line. Our vision is to create another strong pillar of Europe in the Eastern Mediterranean among Turkey, Greece and the island of Cyprus once a comprehensive settlement has been reached.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Energy is yet another area of interest for all of us. It is obvious that energy security is closely associated with prosperity and stability.

    In this respect, let us not forget that Turkey is close to nearly 70 percent of the world’s energy resources. It has a strategic location along the main transport routes of the oil and natural gas resources of the Middle East, Central Asia and Caspian regions.

    Turkey’s energy security strategy overlaps with the EU’s policy of diversification of energy supply routes. Indeed, Turkey is aiming at becoming Europe’s fourth artery of natural gas after Russia, Norway and Algeria. Following the realization of the main projects of the East-West Corridor, we are now working with our partners to realize the Southern Energy Corridor which includes natural gas pipeline projects going through the territory of Turkey.

    In this context, the Nabucco Project is a priority of our energy strategy. It will play a crucial role in moving gas further towards European markets.

    Distinguished Guests,

    I have outlined some of the main areas where Turkey is uniquely placed to help address the challenges faced by Europe. Turkey is a negotiating candidate country determined to join the EU. Turkey continues on its path to accession and an enormous transformation process is also taking place. The comprehensive political reforms enacted in the past six years have enhanced our democratic system. We are determined to take them further ahead.

    We will continue the negotiations in good faith with the shared objective of accession as clearly stated in the negotiating framework of the EU. It is essential that Turkey’s accession process be continued objectively, fairly, in a foreseeable way and according to the rules of the game.

    Distinguished Guests,

    Strategic vision is no longer confined to military or geopolitical considerations alone. Strategic approaches now aim for common values, intercultural dialogue and mutual harmony. Such a strategic approach implies Turkey’s accession to the EU.

    Turkey’s accession will carry within it some keys to solving many of the EU’s political, social and economic problems. I shall remind you that tomorrow’s Turkey will be a much different and stronger country compared to what it is today. When Turkey becomes a member, it will shoulder some of the burdens of Europe.

    Turkey is proof that a well-functioning secular democracy in a predominantly Muslim society can prosper, preserve its traditional values and also be a part of Western institutions.

    None of these are new concepts in defending the cause of Turkey’s accession to the EU. However, their importance increases as the challenges confronting us gain urgency with every day going by.

    The case is a rather simple one: The world needs the EU’s soft power. And to become a global power, the EU needs Turkey. For such a successful “peace project” involving 500 million people, Turkey’s integration is the most viable way forward.

    Distinguished Guests,

    The EU needs to approach this matter with a sense of vision.

    It must take the vision of its own Founding Fathers who aimed to eliminate barriers which divided Europe and not create new barriers. Therefore, I wish to recall the Czech Presidency’s motto: “Europe without barriers”.

    Thank you for your attention.

  • George Friedman Discusses “The Next 100 Years”

    George Friedman Discusses “The Next 100 Years”

    Permalink for this content

    Video: George Friedman Discusses “The Next 100 Years”