Hassan Selim Ozertem, an analyst of the USAK research center, said that realization of the Turkish Stream was important for the country, but there were still uncertainties around the route and the location of the hub. In his words, even after Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest press conference, it remained vague whether the hub will be built in Greece or Turkey.
Ozertem considers comparing the Turkish Stream and the similar project TANAP to deliver Azerbaijani gas was unacceptable. TANAP, according to the expert, is a ready project, its construction will start in 2015. The Turkish Stream project has no inter-governmental agreement of approval, not set route. The Turkish Stream pipeline may run through Greece, Macedonia and Serbia, then to Austria. The analyst concluded that Turkish Stream and TANAP presupposed different routes and markets.
Faruk Logoglu, deputy head of the Republican People's Party of Turkey, the president of the Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies, noted the complexity of the project and its political motivation. In his words, the project gives an impression that it is Putin's punishment of Europe involving Turkey. Improvements in relations with Ukraine and the EU will make Russia's project a less problematic issue.
Logoglu pointed out that Turkey was becoming more dependent on Russian energy. The expert said that Turkey could also transit Iranian and Turkmen gas, possibly Kazakhstani oil in the future. Before launching the Turkish Stream project, the countries need to take Azerbaijan's interests into account, Logoglu concluded.
