Putin, Erdogan seal 'grand bargain'

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Ankara last week marked a new era for “enhanced multi-dimensional partnership” between Ankara and Moscow. Putin and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed some 20 agreements covering energy, trade and other fields.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also attended part of the talks between Erdogan and Putin, reflecting the involvement of Italian companies in some of these projects. The most remarkable dimension of the various joint projects concerns energy cooperation, most notably Turkey’s expression of support for Russia’s South Stream project.
In oil transportation, Russia committed to participate in the planned Samsun-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline (SCP), connecting the

Turkish Black Sea city of Samsun to the Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan. Moscow had proven reluctant to involve itself in the SCP, which will bypass the congested Turkish Straits, and instead promoted another bypass option through Burgas-Alexandroupolis between Bulgaria and Greece. Meanwhile, Turkey took steps to make the SCP attractive for the Russian side, by linking this project with the Turkish-Israeli-Indian energy partnership.

Erdogan expressed his pleasure with the Russian decision to commit its crude. Ankara can consider this development as its greatest success in this grand bargain, given that Turkey has worked to convert Ceyhan, where the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline also terminates, into a global energy hub.

However, Putin did not rule out interest in Burgas-Alexandroupolis, and instead emphasized that the two pipelines might be complementary in meeting the growing demand for export routes. This statement raises questions about how committed Russia will be to the SCP, given that Russian companies own the majority of shares in the other Burgas-Alexandroupolis option.

In terms of gas cooperation, Turkey will allow Russia to conduct explorations and feasibility studies in the Turkish exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, as part of Russian plans to construct South Stream – a gas pipeline traversing the Black Sea from Russia to landfall in Bulgaria. Since this move comes against the background of Turkey’s decision to sign the rival Nabucco pipeline agreement last month, it raises many questions, as to how it will affect Nabucco, which traverses Turkey and which the country considers a “strategic priority”, as well as European energy security issues.

Asia Times