Mehmet Cetingulec\u00a0 writes:\u00a0 Russia cancelled the South Stream oil pipeline in December.\u00a0 Without the commission’s approval, Bulgaria declared South Stream could not cross its territory. Russia, upset with the Europeans’ position,\u00a0responded with\u00a0the Turkey Stream project.<\/p>\n
Putin’s move surprised the Europeans. Federica Mogherini, EU foreign affairs and security policy chief,\u00a0declared on Euronews TV that the Russian decision illustrated the urgent need for Europe to diversify its gas procurement channels.\u00a0The scrapped project was to have been\u00a03,600 kilometers (2,237 miles) long\u00a0and would have\u00a0transported\u00a0gas to Croatia, Hungary,\u00a0Serbia and\u00a0Slovenia.<\/p>\n
Andras Deak, of the World Economy Institute, told Euronews: \u201cThe European Commission, by explaining why reconciliation would be more beneficial to both sides, could induce Russia to take a step back and thus boost its own prestige as well.\u201d\u00a0Neither Europe nor Putin, however, chose to\u00a0step\u00a0back. In fact, Putin moved forward, on his new project, meeting in February with Hungarian Prime Minister to discuss Turkey Stream.<\/p>\n
After keeping Hungary onboard, Putin met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Moscow April 7, Putin proposed that Turkey Stream\u00a0provide\u00a0natural gas via Greece to the central Europe countries of Austria,\u00a0Hungary,\u00a0Macedonia and\u00a0Serbia.\u00a0Putin noted that the project could earn Greece hundreds of millions of euros every year. Tsipras’ only objection\u00a0was to the name of the project \u2014\u00a0Turkey Stream.<\/p>\n
As with South Stream, the European Commission is not in favor of\u00a0Turkey Stream. With debate continuing\u00a0over the project,\u00a0Russia issued a warning to the European Union on April 14. the CEO of Gazprom, said EU\u00a0obstruction of\u00a0Turkey Stream would be a grave mistake that might prompt Gazprom to suspend the project and redirect its natural resources to Asian markets. He said that for Turkey Stream to be ready by 2019, construction should have already begun.<\/p>\n
Gas will be brought to Trachea [on the European part of Turkey], and the project will be financed by finding buyers from the spot market. Greece, Serbia, Macedonia and Hungary want to participate in this project, but if Russia and Ukraine fully sort out their problems, this project could be forgotten. In its current form,\u00a0it is not really economical. There is no buyer other than Turkey.<\/p>\n
On the other hand,\u00a0Yardim believes\u00a0the Russians will not go back on their word\u00a0and that\u00a0the Turkey Stream project will be realized. He said four pipelines will be laid to carry 63 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Turkey.<\/p>\n
Yardim said Russia, in delivering natural gas to Europe’s\u00a0border via Turkey Stream, does not anticipate encountering\u00a0financial problems. Will Russia give up on Turkey Stream?\u00a0According to Yardim, \u201cI know that Russia has decided on this issue. I worked with Russians for 25 years. They don\u2019t easily change their minds. I don\u2019t think they will revert to South Stream.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Turkey](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Turkey-Stream-.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mehmet Cetingulec\u00a0 writes:\u00a0 Russia cancelled the South Stream oil pipeline in December.\u00a0 Without the commission’s approval, Bulgaria declared South Stream could not cross its territory. Russia, upset with the Europeans’ position,\u00a0responded with\u00a0the Turkey Stream project. Putin’s move surprised the Europeans. … Continue reading