Baku, Azerbaijan, June 9
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Over the next 45 days, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will have to form a new government.
Despite that the political parties don't intend to join a coalition government with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Davutoglu said in his last statement that he would start negotiations on the matter with the leaders of all the parties to be represented in Turkey's parliament.
Political analysts believe that these 45 days will be the most critical period in the modern history of Turkey.
It is no secret that all the achievements in the areas of energy and economy in Turkey occurred during the time that AKP has been in power in the country.
But some other parties of Turkey, for example the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) almost always opposed the implementation of a number of major projects in the country.
Meanwhile, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has never been even a party to discussions on economic projects.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, instructed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to form the new government, has already decided on the three priorities of the new cabinet.
These priorities include fighting Fethullah Gulen movement, democratic settlement of the Kurdish problem and legitimacy of Turkish president. Thus, no matter which party will join the new government, it will be committed namely to these priorities.
It is interesting that energy projects are not mentioned among the priorities of the new government. In this regard, the fate of the energy projects, implementation of which started during the office of the ruling Justice and Development Party, falls under question.
All the more so, earlier, Murat Ozcelik, deputy chairman in charge of foreign relations of the Republican People's Party (CHP) said that in the case of gaining victory in the parliamentary election, his party intends to revise the agreement with Russia on construction of Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
There is no doubt that namely, the implementation of Russian energy projects can be under threat in Turkey.
This mainly refers to the Turkish Stream. Various obstacles hampered the implementation of this project in Turkey during the reign of the Justice and Development Party.
First, despite Russia announced about the implementation of this project, Turkey does not have any obligations to build the Turkish Stream.
Second, Russia's Gazprom company has not appealed to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey up until now. And, neither sale of oil and gas on the territory of Turkey nor transportation of hydrocarbons through its territory is possible without its license.
Third, the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning has not received any requests from Gazprom regarding the assessment of the impact of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction on the environment, the ministry told Trend earlier.
Thus, given that the new Turkish government has not been formed yet and it is unknown which parties will join it, the implementation of Turkish Stream in the country can be postponed for an indefinite period.
However, in contrast to the Turkish Stream, the case of Azerbaijani Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) Project is somewhat different.
In contrast to the Turkish Stream, in the construction of which Turkey will not participate, Ankara has a stake in TANAP. In addition, this project has already got permission to construct a gas pipeline in Turkey.
However, the implementation not only of the Turkish Stream, but also many other projects, which were launched during the reign of the Justice and Development Party, may turn out to be under threat in Turkey. They include the construction of a third airport in Istanbul with a budget of 22.125 billion euros, the bridges over the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the tunnel Eurasia under the Bosporus, nuclear power plant in the province of Sinop on the Black Sea coast.
Turkish opposition has always opposed these projects, while the Justice and Development Party stood up for their implementation.
Edited by CN
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
