Turkey threatens Russia (video)
After the operations of Russia in Syria, President of Turkey Erdogan announced that Ankara may look for alternatives in its projects of imports of natural gas and construction of nuclear power plant. Turkey is one of the largest importers of Russian gas, the two countries have come to an agreement to build “Turkish stream” gas pipeline, which is an alternative for Russia to get its gas to the West bypassing Ukraine. Russia has also assumed the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, a project worth USD 20 billion, which, according to Erdogan, is also in doubt because of Russia’s violation of Turkey’s airspace and the operations in Syria. Nevertheless, according to some analysts, the angry statements of Erdogan can ultimately mean nothing. Garrett Jenkins, analyst at Johns Hopkins University, noted that the two sides have had disagreements also in the past, but Russia and Turkey have deep economic ties, which force the parties to come to an agreement in the end. To note, still on Wednesday Russian Gazprom announced that “Turkish stream” project may be postponed. Putin and Erdogan came to an agreement last month, before the operations of Russia in Syria, that the project would continue irrespective of the current problems, construction activities were scheduled for June, but they have been postponed until today. The construction of the gas pipeline also depends on the demand of Russian gas, which is also in doubt because of the strategy adopted by Russia, note the analysts. In case of failure of the project Turkey has an alternative- Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, yet the long-lasting intention of Turkey is to become an energy distribution center with the benefits following it.
