Energy-hungry Turkey

The Foreign Policy Programme (TESEV) January 22, 2014

By Olgu Okumuş *

Growing domestic energy demand and the objective of being an energy transit hub have shaped Turkey’s energy sector in the last decade. To meet the growing demand while managing its effects on national budget deficits, Ankara has liberalized the energy market and diversified its energy sources and suppliers. Both of these measures boosted success for the objective of being an energy center, alongside the Bosporus straits strategic role for Russian oil. Moreover, Turkish territories also welcomed the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Trans-Anatolian and Trans-Adriatic gas pipelines to deliver Caspian sources to Europe. Meanwhile, lower electricity pricing and growing carbon emissions pose a new challenge to the Turkish energy sector.

* Olgu Okumuş is an affiliated lecturer in energy diplomacy at Sciences Po, Paris and director of strategy development at LEO Advisors. She is also a PhD candidate at Sciences Po, Paris, where her research focuses on Turkey’s energy transit policy.

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