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FSUOGM NEWS IN BRIEF FSUOGM

CENTRAL ASIA & SOUTH not go unanswered. In a veiled swipe at Karabakh, a breakaway majority-ethnic-
Russia, he claimed the attack “was beyond Armenian part of Azerbaijan.
CAUCASUS Armenia’s calibre.” A US-backed effort to restore those
Azerbaijan has been a Turkish ally since diplomatic ties a decade ago withered on
Jupiter Energy to move gaining independence with the collapse of the vine. There is even less appetite for
the Soviet Union. The two countries share
rapprochement now in Turkey, where
oilfield to commercial stage ethnic and linguistic ties, and officials from Erdogan has stoked nationalist sentiment to
shore up support among voters hit hard by a
both frequently recite the refrain that they
Kazakhstan-based oil producer Jupiter Energy are “one people, two states.” deep economic slowdown, and to maintain
has received all necessary approvals to transfer Still, Ankara’s support for Baku had been his coalition with an ultra-nationalist party
its Akkar East oilfield to commercial status as tempered by its view of the South Caucasus that opposes reconciliation with Armenia. The
three new wells have already started producing as Russia’s sphere of influence. century-old genocide of ethnic Armenians
oil, Small Caps reported on September 14. Turkish officials have implied that the in the Ottoman Empire also poisons the
Until now, oil production was limited to July fighting, which took place on the relationship between the two sides.
two earlier wells as the firm awaited an all-clear border between Armenia’s Tavush and Erdogan “has sought to keep a nationalist
signal for its latest expansion from the Kazakh Azerbaijan’s Tovuz regions, threaten a key narrative at the forefront out of concern for
government Jupiter Energy pumped 31,700 Azerbaijani transportation and energy internal politics as much as foreign policy,”
barrels of oil in the second quarter of this year. corridor with Turkey. said Ilhan Uzgel, a professor of international
Following the approvals, wells J-51, Energy is a cornerstone of the relations at Ankara University.
J-52 and 19 resumed production for the relationship. Azerbaijan supplies Turkey In just the last year, Erdogan has sent
so-called “preparatory period” under with nearly a fifth of its natural gas imports, soldiers to Iraq, Syria and Libya and dispatched
Kazakhstan’s Sub-Surface Code. During as well as Caspian Sea oil to the hub of warships to accompany a research vessel
the transition period, the three oil wells Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast, hunting for hydrocarbons in Mediterranean
will only operate at 30% of capacity, since through pipelines that traverse Tovuz. waters that international law says are Greek.
otherwise more gas would be produced than “This is a very core security issue for These missions are reshaping Turkey into an
could be utilised on the field. Turkey for energy security,” a senior Turkish independent global power, he has said.
Jupiter Energy owns 100% of Block 31 energy ministry official told reporters in Engagement in the Caucasus would
in the Mangistau Basin located in West Istanbul on condition his name was not bring Nato member Turkey into yet another
Kazakhstan region. The company acquired used. “We will take any relevant measures to potential zone of contention with Russia,
the 123 square kilometres in 2008. continue” oil and gas flows from Azerbaijan. with which it maintains complex, frequently
Russia dominates Turkish imports shifting relations.
of oil, gas and coal, and a decades-old While Russia and Turkey are on opposing
Turkey takes assertive role natural gas contract expires next year. The sides in Libya and Syria, they have learned
energy ministry official said Turkey is now
to navigate a partnership because of the
in Caucasus conflict seeking far more competitive terms in its advantages it bestows, including energy
negotiations with Russia.
supplies, weapons procurement and diplomatic
Turkey’s full-throttled support for Azerbaijan “From the Turkish government’s leverage with the West, Uzgel added.
during recent hostilities with Armenia reflects a perspective, the recent escalation between In the Caucasus, Russia is Armenia’s
larger drive by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Azerbaijan and Armenia was the result main backer and keeps an army base there
to assert his country’s influence in its sprawling of Armenia’s—backed by Russia—attack that serves as a bulwark against Turkey,
neighbourhood. against Azerbaijani-Turkish energy projects, and Russian troops patrol the Armenia-
In recent years, Erdogan has undertaken namely the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Turkey border. Russia also maintains close
a more aggressive foreign policy across assuming that Russia might aim to disrupt ties with Azerbaijan, supplying the latter
the Middle East, north Africa and the the energy supplies from Azerbaijan with the bulk of its military hardware, but
eastern Mediterranean, frustrating Turkey’s to Turkey and instead keeping Turkey Azerbaijan-Russia tensions have spiked,
traditional Western allies. Many of these dependent on Russian energy resources,” with Aliyev publicly accusing Russian
moves have put it at odds with Russia. said Diana Yayloyan, a research associate at President Vladimir Putin of shipping arms
The outbreak of fighting in July between the Ankara-based think tank TEPAV. to Armenia in the wake of the fighting.
Armenia and Azerbaijan has added “This is a dangerous narrative In spite of Erdogan’s suggestion of a
the South Caucasus to the expanding since it aims to present Armenia as an Russian hand behind the July fighting,
geography of Turkey’s self-assigned strategic unpredictable destabiliser in the region—a Hajiyev said that Baku doesn’t blame Russia.
backyard—and further raised the potential narrative that Azerbaijan is gladly Azerbaijan sees Russia as the key player
for tension with Russia, which has a mutual promoting,” she said. in resolving the conflict over Nagorno-
defence treaty with Armenia. The top foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani Karabakh, which has defied decades of
Following the clashes—the heaviest President Ilham Aliyev, Hikmet Hajiyev, international mediation and has failed to
fighting between the two former Soviet attributed Turkey’s sharp response in part to capture the attention of the current US
republics since 2016—Turkey has taken an the potential threat posed to infrastructure administration.
unusually assertive posture in the region to projects linking Turkey and Azerbaijan. That “It’s our belief that it should be a
back its ally, Azerbaijan. It offered to supply “stronger position was crucially important for strategic objective of Russia to see more de-
it with weapons, and the two sides have held Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev told reporters in Istanbul escalation and a resolution of the Armenia-
several high-level military and diplomatic at a September 7 briefing. Azerbaijan conflict,” said Hajiyev. Russian
visits and carried out expanded joint Political developments at home have also and Turkish cooperation “is a partnership
military exercises. influenced Turkey’s strategic thinking in the that can bring security and stability to our
Erdogan’s rhetoric has also been harsher Caucasus. Turkey severed ties with Armenia region, especially … for the durable lasting
than in the past. He has called Armenia “an in 1993, during Armenia’s war with resolution of the conflict.”
invader” and vowed that its actions would Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-

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