Turkey hints at carrots

Apparently realizing that their behavior isn't exactly giving Israel any incentive to reach a financial settlement with them, Turkey is now hinting at a natural gas pipeline between Israel and Europe.

One byproduct of Israel’s apology to Turkey for operational errors that may have caused loss of life on the Mavi Marmara could be cooperation in the energy field, Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Tuesday.

“We should acknowledge that it is a political issue,” Yildiz was quoted by Today’s Zaman as saying in reference to the apology at an energy conference in Ankara, amid a slight decrease in public Turkish gloating over the issue.

“The reason for the apology is not [common] energy projects, but the result of it can be energy projects,” he said.

“Within the process of normalization, after Israel has fulfilled its responsibilities towards our side, the project of transporting Israeli gas via Turkey could come onto the agenda.”

While Israel has not yet decided whether or how much of its natural gas reserves that just began flowing on Saturday should be exported – or whether the preferred market is to Europe via Cyprus or Turkey, or the Far East via Eilat – there was considerable talk during the height of the Turkish-Israeli diplomatic tension of an Israel-Cyprus- Greece energy corridor that would bypass Turkey.

But now, with Cyprus’s financial woes coupled with the beginning of a Jerusalem- Ankara rapprochement, the idea of a pipeline to Turkey is once again gaining currency.

 Do we really want our gas exports to be dependent upon an 'ally' as unreliable as Turkey?