Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu

Turkey’s Role in European Energy Security

Throughout the Cold War years, Western countries formulated their energy policy interests with a view only to the access of oil supplies rather than thinking about the future of energy sources and the diversification needs that they are facing now. These countries are especially interested in the hydrocarbon resources of the Middle East. They were more concerned about the control of Middle Eastern supplies than any other region, because of conflicts in the region, and dominant influence of Russia. These conflicts were: The Arab-Israeli Conflict (1947) The Iranian Crisis (1951–2) The Suez Crisis (1956) The Arab-Israeli War (1967) The Arab-Israeli War (1973) The first oil crisis(1973) The second oil crisis (1979).

The Contribution of Renewables in Turkish Energy Security

Turkeys energy consumption is low compared to its young population. However, energy consumption is rapidly increasing as a result of economic growth in recent years, a trend which is expected to continue. Accordingly, guaranteeing adequate energy supply for its growing economy remains at the top of the governmental agenda. While energy consumption is increasing, Turkey is becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuel imports, especially in oil and natural gas. Increasing awareness toward the environmental issues, energy prices and lack of diversification are the most immediate threats. All these are significant threats to Turkish energy security and thus have become a greater focus of attention. In response, Turkish energy policy is developing into a multi-dimensional one, considering the primary goals of securing energy supply and increasing the level of diversification and decreasing environmental effects. Accordingly, these considerations have tended to endorse renewable energy. Renewable energy resources are emerging as one of the most efficient, indigenous and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. Its geographical location allows extensive use of most types of renewable sources. This paper analyzes the current and possible future contribution of renewable energy in Turkish energy policy, considering supply security, diversification and environmental concerns.

The Rationale behind Turkey's High Gasoline Prices

As oil prices increase, companies experience rising costs and falling profits, leaving governments to deal with the increasing interest rate, inflation and unemployment. However, on the consumer side, the key concern of increasing oil prices is their direct impact on the gasoline pump prices. Consequently, oil price rises have always been an important part of the public debate, especially in countries experiencing high prices for gasoline, such as Turkey. After decades of high prices, Turkey has the most expensive gasoline in the world, at 2.64

Geopolitics and Energy Security: The Inevitable Connection

s/litre as of Quarter 2 of 2013. The aim of this paper is to reveal which factors are most important in determining gasoline pump prices in Turkey. In addition, a comparison of the periods with different pricing regimes is presented in order to demonstrate the actual effects of policy changes imposed by the government. The results show that, rather than the market variables, retail pump prices are primarily determined by variables that are more of a macroeconomic nature. This conclusion suggests that these market variables are utilized by companies in the market as tools for regulating prices that can be perceived an informal automatic price regulation mechanism.

Turkish Foreign and Energy Policy after the Cold War

What is geopolitics? The term geopolitics came to prominence during the late 19th century and referred to the way in which ‘ideas relating to politics and space could be used within foreign policy and international relations’ (Osterud 1988). Geopolitics is also concerned with ‘political relations between states, the external strategies of states and the balance of power between them’ (Jones, Jones & Woods 2004). It provides ‘a practical guide to diplomacy, albeit, without yet a coherent theoretical framework that may plausibly link the impact of a nation’s geographic placement to a predictable international strategy’ (Kelly 2002).

Energy Security in the European Union: Challenges and Perspectives

Turkey is geographically located in close proximity1 to 71.8 per cent of the world’s proven natural gas and 72.7 per cent of its oil reserves (BP 2010), and because many of the main markets are located on the opposite side of Turkey, it is expected to form an energy corridor between the producer countries in the east and consumer markets in the west. It would then become a key country in ensuring energy security through diversification and securing of supply sources and routes, considerations that have gained increased significance in Europe in recent years.

Greater Caspian Sea Region: A Major Alternative for European Energy Security?

The term ‘energy security’ broadly refers to a condition ‘in which a nation and all, or most of its citizens and businesses have access to sufficient energy resources at reasonable prices for the foreseeable future free from serious risk of major disruption of service’, as Barton et al. (2005) highlight. The same authors also focus on four different aspects of the ‘energy security’ matrix. These are: (1) the security of supply; (2) the security of demand; (3) the reliability of energy supply; (4) the physical security of energy installations and personnel (Barton et al. 2005, 496).

Investigating the natural gas supply security: A new perspective

The Caspian Sea is a 700-mile-long body of water in Central Asia, bordered by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. However, the basin area rather the sea itself has an important impact on the area. This is what the study defines as the Greater Caspian Sea (GCS) region. In addition to the Caspian littorals,1 the GCS region includes Iraq, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Turkey, since these countries are strongly affected by the energy regime there as producers, as consumers and as transit ways. One must include these four countries in order to understand the dynamics of the region in an enhanced approach.