Block 6
In context to this article, Turkey has been aggressively hunting for oil and natural gas resources, as Turkey has had energy problems for the past 10-20 years as they grow as a power under the current government. In addition to this current event, in 2019 Turkey made an aggressive move to make an economic maritime zone between Turkey and Libya, which would give Turkey and Libya rights to control a straight line of a max 200 miles between the coastlines, as an economic extension of national waters. This deal if had not received as much bombardment would have been an extensive win for the Turkish as not only would it be able to drill in the oil rich east Mediterranean, but it would have rights to control, and turn down passage through the National Economic waters, which would mainly affect ships coming through the Suez. But in 2019, and 2021, the deal was blasted by countries, even though by law, it was legal, and the Libyan legislature backed the country out twice. Now although the possibilities are not as great, Turkey has started to invest in its Sakarya Gas field in the Black Sea, which will ramp up drilling to access its 40 million cubic metres of natural gas and oil, which comes with a second phase, which is believed to be able to supply the entirety of the Turkish residences demands, and more fields will be scouted for natural gas and oil.
Analyzing this article with the context of Turkey’s bad relations with Greece and Egypt, finding and investing in this oil field in the Black Sea is a supplementing replacement for the losses in the 2019 deal, which has had Turkey in a hunt for new guaranteed sources for the past few years. With this announcement, Turkey will likely reduce spending on foreign oil and natural gases, which helps Turkeys economy, and if Erdogan stays in power, will progress Turkeys hegemonic power by likely slowing buying from Iran, Iraq, and Syria, which are an obstacle in Erdogan’s way. Following this new plan, Erdogan also stated that Turkey will be trying to ramp up its Nuclear Energy production. Raising ‘possible problem’ alarms by stating Turkey would likely be setting up their Nuclear plants with the help of Chinese or KEPCO(a South Korean company), of course, per the increasing U.S-China tensions, there might just be future deals to be made between the U.S and Turkey to make sure Turkey doesn’t buy service from a Chinese Nuclear Energy specialist company. Internally, Turkey’s economy will have a boost to it in the coming years, possibly bolstering Erdogan’s re-election chances, which will continue the Turkish-Ottoman venture. Overall, with this new oil and natural gas gain, it will be interesting to see what happens with Turkey in the coming years, and hopefully it will continue to be interesting.
Connecting these oil and natural gas gains to class, it can be said that the gains are geopolitically a power booster for Turkey’s economy, and it is reasonable for Turkey to continue to invest in its Black Sea oil drilling operations. It is also a given that there is a lot more oil to be discovered in the Black Sea region, which Turkey holds a lot of economic control over, which with the Ukraine War unfolding the way it is, Turkey could be in more intense competition for natural gas and oil in the Black Sea if Russia holds the port cities and maritime economic zones held by Ukraine. Again, overall it will be nice to watch how the next few years unfold for Turkey, hopefully with no setbacks mid-way as elections come up and could possibly put a halt to Turkeys solving of its energy and economic problems currently being experienced which is the main focus of this coming election.
