The Great Gas Game: Putin, Pipelines & Power

4 Comments on "The Great Gas Game: Putin, Pipelines & Power"

joe on Tue, 18th Sep 2018 9:59 am 



Kinda puts Syrian war into perspective if it wants to plug itself and Iran into Europe with Russian help. Sad though. Wierd too. Qatar currently being propped up by Turkey and Qatar hosting the airforce of its biggest enemies biggest ally/supporter.
Good post, thanks.

Davy on Tue, 18th Sep 2018 11:40 am 



“Turkish Strategy In Northern Syria: Erdogan’s Path To Building A Neo-Ottoman Empire”
https://tinyurl.com/y9hrwatf

“In order to understand Turkey’s approach toward the conflict in Syria, one first needs to explain the military situation there as of September 2018.”

“On the local level, Turkey’s goals and tasks consist of two parts: The first is to deal with Kurdish armed formations in northern Syria. The second goal is to keep and expand influence in the province of Idlib.”

“The total amount of financing provided to militant groups in Syria from Turkey has never been assessed, but it’s in the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars a year. It has varied at different stages of conflict, and was disbursed through various sources.”

“As the flow of jihadists and activities of volunteers declined, opposition groups fighting in Syria apparently shifted to self-sufficiency, which looks as follows: Turkey provides weapons, munitions, equipment, transportation and training. In return it receives resources from the occupied territory—oil, agricultural and industrial products. The priority is given to Turkey-manufactured goods in trade on occupied territory.”

“TURKISH DIPLOMATIC APPROACH TOWARD NORTHERN SYRIA Northern Syria is a big knot of contradictions, with every party (Syria, Turkey, Iran, Russia, and of course the US) seeking to implement their own plans. The Assad government is still viewed as illegitimate by Ankara, though Erdogan prefers not to mention it officially if this is possible. Turkish authorities have also repeatedly claimed that Ankara is fulfilling its obligations under the de-escalation zones agreement. However, no practical steps have been made by Ankara to separate Turkish-backed “moderate” factions from the terrorist groups in Idlib or to combat the terrorists there.”

“neo-Ottomanism is the most appropriate term to describe Turkey’s foreign policy ideology and actions. Ankara seeks to become a world power, and that goal drives its activities, particularly concerning the Arab Spring and the war in Syria.”

“It’s possible that the Syrian border territories will see something akin to a trans-border protectorate, without redrawing national boundaries. Turkey has already transformed the agglomeration of its proxies into something like a unified opposition”

“In the contemporary military and diplomatic reality surrounding the Syrian crisis, Ankara is pursuing the following tactical goals: To eliminate or at least disarm and limit influence of US-backed Kurdish armed groups in northern Syria; To strengthen a united pro-Turkish opposition Idlib and to eliminate any resistance to it, including in some scenarios the elimination of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies; To facilitate return of refugees from Turkey to Syrian areas under its own control;”

rockman on Tue, 18th Sep 2018 3:16 pm 



“Russia cannot be allowed to build a gas pipeline that would bypass Ukraine, as it would pose a threat to Europe’s energy security…”. That sentence makes no sense at all. If Russia wanted to reduce exports to the EU today all it need do is reduce exports to the Ukraine and suffer that revenue loss. OTOH the Ukraine can reduce the amount of NG it passes thru to the EU anytime it wishes to. Such as when it demands some concession from EU govts. But if Russia had an alternate route for that NG then the Ukraine would loose that control over those EU govts.

Rather blatant and obvious propaganda piece by zerohedge IMHO.

Jaz on Wed, 19th Sep 2018 7:02 am 



I would not be surprised if the CIA killed Enrico Mattei, they have done worse things in Nicaragua and other places.

Europe would be foolish to allow all it’s gas supply to be controlled by Ukraine. That is why it is planning several pipelines. Azerbaijan for one.

https://www.tap-ag.com/the-pipeline/the-big-picture/southern-gas-corridor

https://www.tanap.com/tanap-project/why-tanap/

AND from southern Russia

http://www.gazprom.com/projects/turk-stream/

and Northern Russia

https://www.nord-stream2.com/

and also LNG terminals which could import gas from anywhere, including the US.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pgnig-lng-usa/polands-pgnig-signs-agreements-for-long-term-lng-supplies-from-u-s-idUSKBN1JN0LW