© Sertac Kayar/Reuters
A desperate Ankara increasingly depends on NATO's embrace.
In the crucial Pipelineistan arena, the Turkish Stream project has been suspended (but not canceled). Eurasia integration - the key 21st century project for both China and Russia - is severely hampered.
Meanwhile, what passes for the Obama administration's "strategy" is more slippery than a Japanese eel. US Think Tank land interprets it as an "effort" to "de-conflict the battlefield" even as the main NATO planks acting in Syria (US, UK, France, Germany, plus Turkey) gear up for an alleged "large offensive" against Islamic State (ISIS). "Alleged" because the whole op involves prime shadow play. And "de-conflict" could rather mean "re-conflict."
It's no wonder President Putin interpreted Sultan Erdogan's downing of the Russian Su-24 as supremely illogical. Reasons, of course, include the Russian Air Force's pounding of the Turkmen - Ankara's fifth column in northern Syria. And the relentless Russian assault on the stolen Syrian oil racket, which involves collusion between some pretty prominent Turkish figures and ISIS.
It gets even more illogical when we look at the crucial energy sphere. Ankara depends at a rate of 27 percent on oil, and 35 percent on natural gas. Last year, Turkey bought 55 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and 18 percent from Iran.
Because of its manifold infrastructure problems, Iran simply won't be a strong competitor to Gazprom for supplying natural gas to Turkey - and Europe - anytime soon. Assuming it will be restarted in the future, Turkish Stream would be a very good deal for both Turkey and central and southern Europe.
Comment: So much for that 'fragile truce' that the Saudi-led coalition has no intention of honoring!
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