Turkey - Murat Mercan; Focus On Renewables.

Addressing the 15th Eurasian Economic Summit, also held in Istanbul on April 20, 2012, Deputy Energy Minister Murat Mercan said Turkey aimed for increasing the share of renewable energy to 30% and add 5% nuclear energy. He noted, however, that the world was experiencing an imbalance between supply and demand of energy.

Former Italian Prime Minister Lamberto Dini told the conference renewable energy sources were no substitute for oil and natural gas. He noted that fossil fuels comprised some 80% of total energy supplies. Dini, the current president of Italy's Foreign Affairs Senate Committee, explained: "Thus, we should not think that renewable resources can substitute for oil and natural gas. This will not happen today or tomorrow", adding that the energy demands of Western countries had increased despite the economic slow-down". Dini said: "It is clear that Turkey will be an energy hub as it has become a transit point towards the Central Asian, Middle Eastern and European markets".

Former Austrian deputy PM Dr. Erhard Busek told the same forum that nation-states could not bear the responsibility of the energy issue alone. He said: "Responsibility in energy has belonged to nation-states up to now. But they are not powerful enough to tackle this issue by themselves. From now on, it has to become a common responsibility". He argued that the EU did not handle the issue of energy issue as a unit, adding that regional co-operation in energy was very important. He said energy should become a common issue, especially in the south-eastern EU countries or the Balkans.

Georgian Deputy Minister Giorgi Baramidze told the conference: "There are many energy lines [in the region]. Most of them go through Georgia. We will continue to play a constructive role and diversify energy [sources] in this context".

Five issues influence Ankara's positions in energy policy: (1) strong demand, with Turkey having become the world's 16th largest economy; (2) its need, with US help, to control politics in Central Asia and the Caucasus; (3) the regulation of shipping along the Turkish straits, with the Bosporus dangerously congested; (4) oil and gas pipelines proposed to by-pass the Black Sea (omt19TurkTradeMay7-12); and (5) geo-strategic co-operation, as well as rivalries, with Greece, Iran, Russia and other non-Turkic states.

Ankara has been promoting a commercial aspect of pan-Turkism along the old Silk Road, with oil and gas pipelines to pass through Turkey from Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe. This is a geo-political motivation for every Turkish leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991.

The Foreign Ministry has institutes in Ankara training diplomats from Central Asian, Caucasian and Middle Eastern states - with enthusiasts also coming from Tatarstan, an oil-producing Turkic member of the Russian federation, and from other Turkic parts of Russia. This is rivalled by Iran's Foreign Ministry which has done the same to attract "diplomatic converts".