English
16
May
0 Agenda

POLICY BRIEF Türkiye’s Energy Hub Ambitions: Strategic Priorities for 2025 and Beyond

POLICY BRIEF Türkiye’s Energy Hub Ambitions: Strategic Priorities for 2025 and Beyond
Strategic Report

Türkiye seeks to transform from an energy transit country into a regional hub linking Asian producers and European consumers. This brief assesses the current state of Turkey’s energy diplomacy and identifies four strategic priorities: accelerating market liberalization, expanding infrastructure, diversifying suppliers, and preparing for the energy transition....

Türkiye
POLICY BRIEF

Türkiye’s Energy Hub Ambitions: Strategic Priorities for 2025 and Beyond

TASAM Policy Brief | March 2025

Prepared by: Chiara Luong-Thanh

Executive Summary

Türkiye seeks to transform from an energy transit country into a regional hub linking Asian producers and European consumers. This brief assesses the current state of Turkey’s energy diplomacy and identifies four strategic priorities: accelerating market liberalization, expanding infrastructure, diversifying suppliers, and preparing for the energy transition.

Background

Türkiye imports over 98% of its natural gas, primarily from Russia (42%), Azerbaijan (20%), and LNG markets (27%). Its geographic position between Caspian and Middle Eastern energy basins and the European market provides a structural advantage for transit and hub development. Key infrastructure includes TANAP, TurkStream, and BTC, which collectively move significant volumes of oil and gas through Turkish territory.

However, Türkiye’s hub ambitions face constraints: BOTAŞ dominance limits market competition, internal infrastructure bottlenecks restrict gas flows, regional instability threatens project security, and global LNG expansion erodes the pipeline transit advantage.

Key Findings

1. Market structure matters as much as geography. Türkiye cannot function as a true hub without liquid markets, transparent pricing, and third-party access to infrastructure.

2. Supplier diversification remains incomplete. Despite progress with Azerbaijan, Türkiye remains heavily dependent on Russian gas and vulnerable to supply disruptions.

3. Regional instability is a persistent risk. Conflicts in the Caucasus, Middle East, and Eastern Mediterranean directly affect energy infrastructure security and project viability.

4. The energy transition creates new imperatives. EU decarbonization policies will reduce long-term gas demand; Türkiye must position for hydrogen and renewable energy integration.

Policy Recommendations

The following recommendations summarize the most urgent policy priorities for strengthening Türkiye’s energy hub potential.

Market Liberalization: Revise Natural Gas Market Law; establish an independent transmission system operator (2025 –2027)

Infrastructure Expansion: Increase storage to 10 BCM; expand east-west transmission capacity (2025 –2030)

Supplier Diversification: Advance Trans-Caspian negotiations; maintain dialogue with Iran (Ongoing)

Energy Transition: Develop a hydrogen strategy; engage the EU on carbon adjustment mechanisms (2025 –2035)

Conclusion

Türkiye possesses the geographic and infrastructural foundation for a significant regional energy role. Realizing this potential requires coordinated domestic reforms and effective diplomatic engagement across multiple fronts. The current moment, marked by European urgency to diversify from Russian gas and ongoing Caspian development, presents a window of opportunity that effective policy could capture.


 Click For the Related Document
This content is protected by Copyright under the Trademark Certificate. It may be partially quoted, provided that the source is cited, its link is given and the name and title of the editor/author (if any) is mentioned exactly the same. When these conditions are fulfilled, there is no need for additional permission. However, if the content is to be used entirely, it is absolutely necessary to obtain written permission from TASAM.

Content Categories

Top Authors ( 10 )

Areas

Continents ( 5 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 487 ) Actiivities ( 223 )
Areas
TASAM Africa 0 153
TASAM Asia 0 244
TASAM Europe 0 44
TASAM Latin America & Carribea... 0 34
TASAM North America 0 12
Regions ( 4 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 182 ) Actiivities ( 56 )
Areas
TASAM Balkans 0 95
TASAM Middle East 0 64
TASAM Black Sea and Caucasus 0 16
TASAM Mediterranean 0 7
Identity Fields ( 2 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 176 ) Actiivities ( 75 )
Areas
TASAM Islamic World 0 147
TASAM Turkic World 0 29
TASAM Türkiye ( 1 Fields )
Action
 Contents ( 234 ) Actiivities ( 61 )
Areas
TASAM Türkiye 0 234

Most Read

Last Added

Contents

Article

The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence into the operational frameworks of non-state actors represents a paradigm shift in asymmetric warfare. Currently, standard counter-terrorism constructions often rely on the static matching of keywords and legacy Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, w...;
Strategic Report

Türkiye seeks to transform from an energy transit country into a regional hub linking Asian producers and European consumers. This brief assesses the current state of Turkey’s energy diplomacy and identifies four strategic priorities: accelerating market liberalization, expanding infrastructure, div...;
TASAM Institutional

8. Türkiye-Africa Defence Security and Aerospace Forum was held as a co-event of the 11th Istanbul Security Conference organized by the TASAM National Defence and Security Institute on November 28, 2025, at the Wish More Hotel Istanbul, with the main theme of "African Security Architecture and Türki...;
TASAM Institutional

The 4th Istanbul Cyber-Securty Forum, with the main theme of “Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Revolution and Cyber-Türkiye”, was jointly held by TASAM National Defence and Security Institute as a co-event of the 11th Istanbul Security Conference, on November 27, 2025, at the Wish More Hotel Istanbu...;
Article

The EU’s SAFE (Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform)¹ initiative promises substantial funding for strengthening Europe’s defence industrial base. However, participation in SAFE cannot come at the expense of Türkiye’s strategic interests, especially given politicization attempts by Greece and t...;
Comment

Artificial intelligence is reshaping economies, governance, and everyday life. But democratization means more than deployment—it means empowering every citizen, in every language and community, not just elite urban users. Here the access to those who have and those who have not is also a question of...;
Article

Türkiye’s emergence as a decisive middle power in global AI governance depends on its potential and the strategic mobilization of its governance capacity. The second part of this article demonstrates how Türkiye can leverage its advantages, such as its technical competencies, foreign policy architec...;
News

“Trade Corridors’ Security and Türkiye” Despite the strong historical and cultural background, it is no longer an option but an obligation for Türkiye - Middle East, or more narrowly, Türkiye - Gulf Countries relations, in which strategic dialogue is still developing, to transform from a fragile ...;

Raporlar