Ankara is the neighbour Europeans still won't let into their club. And yet the country behind the Bosporus is soon to become the communication hub for energy supplies bound for Europe. Die Zeit doubts the EU can go on snubbing the Turks indefinitely. Turkey? For many a European, it is a precarious candidate for accession on the eastern edge of the EU. A farflung NATO outpost, a last offshoot of Western civilisation, bordering on nightmarish nations like Iraq and Iran. But this past summer, an astounding number of the world's potentates undertook a pilgrimage to Turkey, of all places. It was about energy. In this regard, Turkey lies right smack in the middle. It may have little in the way of resources itself, but several Central Asian countries, along with Russia and the Middle East, will soon be pumping fuel to Europe through Turkish pipelines. And which way those pipelines will run has become a cliffhanger involving high stakes and major geopolitical risks. One traditional supply route runs from East to West. For 15 years Turkey has been under discussion as a transit country for the riches discovered in and around the Caspian Sea since the collapse of the Soviet Union. That includes the natural-gas fields in Turkmenistan; Kazakhstan's offshore Kashagan Field, the biggest oil field discovered in the past quarter of a century anywhere in the world; and Azerbaijan. For a long time it was not clear how all that was supposed to reach Europe. But on 13 July five heads of State came up with an answer in Ankara: they agreed the Nabucco gas pipeline from Turkey to Central Europe and then held a sumptuous ceremony to mark the occasion, over which Turkish premier Erdoğan presided like the ringmaster of a great energy circus.
Ankara is the neighbour Europeans still won't let into their club. And yet the country behind the Bosporus is soon to become the communication hub for energy supplies bound for Europe. Die Zeit doubts the EU can go on snubbing the Turks indefinitely.
Turkey? For many a European, it is a precarious candidate for accession on the eastern edge of the EU. A farflung NATO outpost, a last offshoot of Western civilisation, bordering on nightmarish nations like Iraq and Iran. But this past summer, an astounding number of the world's potentates undertook a pilgrimage to Turkey, of all places. It was about energy. In this regard, Turkey lies right smack in the middle. It may have little in the way of resources itself, but several Central Asian countries, along with Russia and the Middle East, will soon be pumping fuel to Europe through Turkish pipelines. And which way those pipelines will run has become a cliffhanger involving high stakes and major geopolitical risks.
One traditional supply route runs from East to West. For 15 years Turkey has been under discussion as a transit country for the riches discovered in and around the Caspian Sea since the collapse of the Soviet Union. That includes the natural-gas fields in Turkmenistan; Kazakhstan's offshore Kashagan Field, the biggest oil field discovered in the past quarter of a century anywhere in the world; and Azerbaijan. For a long time it was not clear how all that was supposed to reach Europe. But on 13 July five heads of State came up with an answer in Ankara: they agreed the Nabucco gas pipeline from Turkey to Central Europe and then held a sumptuous ceremony to mark the occasion, over which Turkish premier Erdoğan presided like the ringmaster of a great energy circus.
