Turkey positions itself as a strategic corridor for Caspian hydrcarbons

On July 14 Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran related to gas and oil transit and joint energy investments. Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and a team of officials are currently in Tehran meeting with Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, international affairs director of the state-owned National Oil Company (Zaman, August 13). The two sides also agreed to increase their cooperation in electricity production and in the construction of natural gas power stations (Iran Press TV, August 13). On August 19 Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler will make an official visit to Tehran, during which he is expected to sign a deal on electricity generation (NTV, August 13).

Moscow and Washington are both unsettled by the deepening Turkish-Iranian cooperation, because it threatens Russian access to Turkmen natural gas supplies and undercuts the U.S. strategic policy of isolating Iran.
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The Bush administration does not want Ankara cooperating with Iran or Russia. Instead, it wants Turkey to place more importance on Azerbaijan