The position and importance of Turkey in the scope of energy policies of the enlarging EU

Abstract

Increasing demand for oil and gas in the enlarging EU will mostly be satisfied by outside resources, due to Union’s limited oil and gas production capability. Turkey’s geographical location offers variety of opportunities in terms of oil and gas transportation from the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf regions to the EU. As well as connecting the EU to the Middle East, Turkey also plays an important role in the Mediterranean. From the EU’s perspective, abovementioned reasons add further importance to Turkey. Being in the process of starting to accession negotiations with the Union, the key point for Turkey is to utilize her position related to energy policies of the Union in order to support the membership process.Energy; government energy policy; Turkey