Welcome! Turkishpolitix is the independent webportal dedicated to Turkish affairs. It provides news, analysis and information on Turkish politics and is covering a multitude of topics. Read more...
Editorial:What's next? Turkish politics and the rising big elephant, Read more...Update:Are you looking for background information on Turkish elections? Click here to check our online dossier on elections.Search selected websites on Turkish politics: Latest stories |
Sponsored links: |
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
Turkey and EU's strategic relations with South Caucasus
Many observers think that the establishment of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline has improved Turkey's influence in South Caucasus. Will this new situation boost the importance of Turkey for the EU? A recent article by Bordorado from Center for Security Studies, Zurich, argues that due to energy security concerns the EU aims to enhance its relations with South Caucasus.
"Energy security and military-strategic stakes make the region a catalyst of Euro-Atlantic tensions with Moscow. As European and US needs for hydrocarbons rise, the Caspian region and Caucasian transportation routes gain more strategic significance."Moreover the article points out that "the inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline has reinforced Turkey's influence in South Caucasus, as Ankara recently upgraded its military cooperation with Georgia and Azerbaijan, but it also has strengthened Turkey's role as a energy hub between the eastern energy-rich regions and Europe."
Concerning implications for EU-Turkey relations it says:
"This aspect of the Wider Black Sea's geopolitics will force Germany and the EU to consider the risks of losing Ankara as a privileged partner, as a consequence of the recent anti-Turkish wave in some European cabinets."
More highlights
- Turkey excluded from European Union's 50th birthda...
- Dangers of the Armenian genocide resolution
- Islam and Identity in Germany
- UN predicts huge migration to Europe
- U.S.-Turkish Relations and the Challenges Ahead
- Transformation in Turkey
- Tensions over oil in the Mediterranean & French-Gr...
- Alliance of civilizations and cross-cultural relat...
- "There has been a lethal upsurge in ultra-national...
- Burning issue: Turkish Iraq policy
