Before examining the energy transmission lines between Russia and Turkey, we need to understand the relationship between these two countries from a general point of view. As we know, Russia and Turkey have a deep-rooted relationship historically. For this reason, Turkish-Russian relations have gone through many difficulties and at the same time many crises have been experienced.
EUROPE’S DEPENDENCE ON RUSSIA AND EUROPE’S PLANS AFTER THE UKRAINE RUSSIA WAR
The European continent is a poor region in terms of underground treasure. Therefore, it supplies its energy needs from neighboring countries. Europe, which is foreign-dependent especially in primary energy sources, imports energy mostly from Russia. The effects of the Ukraine – Russian War, which still continues today, also affect Europe’s dependence on energy. In this case, Europe once again faced its dependence on foreign energy, which it had been aware of for many years. However, the European Union has finally started to take concrete steps to end this dependency. These concrete steps taken will be examined under the name of alternative energy searches in this article.
THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
The Mediterranean region has always been important for the great powers as well as the states around it throughout history, and with this importance, the region has been a place of competition for the states. There have been struggles between the great powers who wanted to take this region under their control. In fact, there were struggles in this region during the Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The fact that the Mediterranean has trade routes connecting the Eastern and Western civilizations and is a gateway to the warm seas makes this region an important and dynamic region.
RUSSIA’S BALKANS ACTIVITIES
The Russians, who have been trying to enlarge and realize their ambitions since the 16th century, aimed to expand to the south and east in this direction. Especially the Balkans had a strategic importance for Russia. The fact that he could not follow a certain policy in this region throughout history and that it was not active in the problems and conflicts in the region in the 20th century and that it still could not develop a policy towards the Balkans that caused him to lose his influence in the Balkans. However, in the recent turn of the Balkan countries to the West has made Russia interested in this region. The importance of the Balkans for Russia can be explained by many factors such as Slavic-Orthodox brotherhood, passage to the Straits and energy security. In this study, Russia’s relationship with the Balkans throughout history will be briefly discussed and its current situation will be evaluated.
ENERGY DIPLOMACY, GEOPOLITICS AND ECONOMY POLICY OF TURKEY
Energy is an indispensable element of the country’s economic and diplomatic power. As much as a country’s natural resource wealth, its geopolitical position is important. Because the geopolitical position plays a big role in transporting the resource and reducing its cost. Turkey, on the other hand, is in an important place due to its geopolitical position, even if it does not have enough resources in the world energy game. Despite being in such an important position, it also provides the most budget deficit through energy spending. The aim of this study is to discuss Turkey’s position in the world energy game from a diplomatic, economic and geopolitical perspective.
