TURKEY WILL HARM ITSELF IF IT ATTEMPTS TO USE NABUCCO AS LEVERAGE IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH EU
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2009 12:18 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey will shoot itself in the foot if it has
any intention to use the Nabucco pipeline project as leverage in
negotiations with the European Union, an analyst said.
"It would not be wise for Turkey to move unilaterally and use
the Nabucco project as a bargaining chip linked to its accession
negotiations with the EU," Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the
London-based Center for European Reform.
While on a rare visit to Brussels in January, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan warned Turkey would review its support for the Nabucco
project if the EU insisted on blocking entry talks with Ankara on
the energy chapter.
Aimed at carrying Caspian or Middle Eastern natural gas to Europe via
the Turkish territory, the Nabucco pipeline is seen as one of Europe’s
best hopes for reducing its dependence on Russian gas supplies.
"As a politician and as a leader Mr. Erdogan will do what he thinks
is right to defend the interests of his country, but if Turkey wants
to become an energy hub, it needs not only a strategic location but
also the agreement between the producing and consuming countries,"
Barysch said.
Turkey has good relations with producing countries, including Russia,
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and on the other side is trying to keep
options open with Iran, she said. "But it also needs to have good
relations with the consuming countries. Otherwise, the gas will not
flow on the other end, so obviously Mr. Erdogan has no interest in
taking Nabucco off the table entirely," said Barysch.
"The EU has already made it clear that it wants to pursue the
diversification agenda to reduce overdependence on Russian gas
regardless of Turkey. The bloc is no longer talking just about Nabucco,
but also about the southern gas corridor, to indicate that there
are other options that can potentially be resorted to," she said,
Hurriyet Daily News reports.