Türkiye has taken two notable steps that signal its ambition to play a central role in regional energy politics: it agreed to redirect a portion of its own natural gas allocation to Georgia, and it sent a large official delegation to the funeral of Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov. Both moves were widely read as an effort to blunt Russian pressure on Georgia over gas supplies.
Turkish analyst Mahir Kaynak, writing in Star, argues that these actions amount to Türkiye choosing sides in a broader geopolitical contest, one that pits global capital against Russian influence in the post-Niyazov era in Central Asia.
Kaynak challenges the common assumption that global capital and the US government operate in alignment. He believes Washington and Moscow are instead managing a careful balance of power, with an informal division in which Russia retains dominance over natural gas resources while the US seeks control over Middle Eastern oil.
Under that framework, Türkiye's intervention in the gas corridor would introduce a third force into an already delicate arrangement, potentially provoking Russia to resist American influence over Middle Eastern oil and triggering open rivalry between the two nuclear powers.
Kaynak concludes that Türkiye should not act without fully weighing the strategic consequences, and that if the government has done so, the responsibility for the outcome rests with the administration.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.