Turkey's Potential as Future Energy Hub

The Jean Monnet Chair and the Institute for Energy Economics, both University of Cologne, in cooperation with the Center for European Studies of the Middle East Technical University were granted a 3-year research project funded by Stiftung Mercator for the assessment of Turkey’s role in global energy issues, such as energy supply security.

Political sciences analysis will be combined with economic modeling techniques in order to better understand how decisions are made and what their global impact will be. In doing so, different scenarios will be developed to assess whether Turkey can become an energy hub. An emphasis is put on geopolitical conditions as well as on different actors that are involved in shaping Turkey’s energy policy. While a political science perspective is adopted to compare Turkish and international perceptions, the economic analysis focuses on Turkey’s role in global oil and gas trade, especially with regard to new infrastructure projects. The economic modeling part of the research project will quantify the changes that will occur in the global oil and gas market as response to infrastructure changes in the Middle East.

The project is part of the Contemporary Turkey Studies initiative by Stiftung Mercator, which is intended to strengthen research in Germany relating to contemporary Turkey. At the same time, the academic objective is to help generating a contemporary image of Turkey in German society.

For more information please visit the project website or contact Mirja Schröder.