According to international energy agreements, states are obliged to pay the price of natural gas even at times when they do not necessarily need the gas due to a principle of “take or pay.” So Turkey at times pays for gas it does not need when there is a surplus.
If the coalition government back in the late 1990s had ensured a barter trade agreement with Iran under which Tehran would have had agreed to buy Turkish products in return for some of the natural gas it exports to Turkey, then the wide gap in the trade deficit with Iran, due to the high cost of natural gas, could have had been reduced.
From the early 1990s up until the first term of the AK Party, ill-conceived energy policies coupled with allegations of corruption turned energy projects into a mess. Many bureaucrats from that time have been arrested on charges of corruption in relation to various energy deals struck with foreign or local companies.
Turkey’s current policy on Iran, the architect of which is Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, is also problematic from a number of perspectives.
Turkey’s “zero problems with neighbors” policy initiated several years ago, which has enabled a flourishing of ties with one-time adversaries in the Middle East, including Iran, was correct according to conditions at the time. However, Ankara has reversed this policy in the wake of massive popular uprisings taking place in parts of North Africa and the Middle East that have been forcing dictators to leave office. Turkey has given its backing to the people and has begun lending support to opposition movements in those countries, turning its back on their dictators.
However, in the case of Iran there is no such popular uprising.
A recent report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has again brought Iran into the spotlight over its alleged nuclear arms ambitions.
Despite stopping short of explicitly accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons, the IAEA on Nov. 8 laid out a case that Iran had created computer models of nuclear explosions in 2008 and 2009 and conducted experiments on nuclear triggers. The report said that starting in 2000 the Iranians had constructed a vessel to conduct those tests, which was not shown to inspectors who visited the site five years later.
Turkey last year voted against sanctions imposed by the United Nations on Iran over its alleged nuclear arms development plans, raising questions about whether Turkey had become the weakest link in NATO by siding with Tehran.
A Turkish decision to host a US-supplied AN/TPY-2 surveillance radar system as part of a European missile defense shield under a NATO project has, however, helped change the perception in the West in terms of Turkey’s negative image of being the alliance’s weakest link.
The question now is whether Iran deserves to receive such robust support from Turkey given that it has been resorting to unacceptable tactics such as attempting to use Turkish backing for its own interest.
Iran has been selfish in its with relations Turkey despite the fact that Ankara has made many gestures to this country during Tehran’s isolation from the international community. For example, Turkish Airlines (THY) has been providing maintenance services for Iranian commercial planes as a gesture. This helps Iran to safely operate civilian flights. Despite many gestures such as this being made to Iran by Turkey, Tehran, for example, obliges Turkey under the “take or pay” agreement to pay for gas that Ankara sometimes does not need to buy.
Some ministers, such as Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, reportedly ran out of patience during a Cabinet meeting where he complained about Iran, accusing the country of being unappreciative of Turkey’s gestures, and criticized Davutoğlu over his handling of Iran. Such rows at Cabinet meetings indicate that serious cracks are starting to show within the government on the issue of Iran.
The Iranian regime is a headache not only for Turkey but also for the Middle East. Iran is an important player in the current conflict in Syria and provides strong backing to the Assad regime, which is carrying out a brutal crackdown on its own citizens.
It is in Turkey’s interests to keep channels of communication open with neighboring Iran in order to preempt any possible adversarial policies being pursued by Tehran. But at the same time Ankara should not spoil this country by making too many gestures.
