The effect of Türkiye's geopolitical position on its energy supply security policies

Türkiye serves as a bridge between the Middle Eastern and Caucasian countries, which are rich in fossil energy resources, and the industrialized European countries that rely heavily on external energy supplies. This study primarily aims to examine the impact of Türkiye's geopolitical position on energy supply security policies. It addresses Türkiye's role as an energy corridor in the diversification of energy sources and in the transfer of energy to European countries. First, the concept of energy supply security was defined, followed by an analysis of energy supply security policies of major countries such as Japan, China, India, Russia, Brazil, and the USA, which consume more than half of the world's produced energy and are either industrialized or developing. In the last section, Türkiye's geopolitical position and its efforts to become an energy corridor were analyzed comprehensively within the scope of related policies. The energy resources of the countries bordering the Caspian Sea, and the Middle East had been examined, and the export routes of these energy resources were analyzed. Discoveries in the Caspian Sea have revealed that this region possesses rich oil and natural gas reserves, which could serve as an alternative energy source for Europe. Furthermore, Türkiye could enhance Europe's energy import diversity with new pipelines extending from the Middle East to Türkiye. In conclusion, it has been understood that EU energy policies closely affect the developing countries, along with Türkiye and the rest of the world. Additionally, by utilizing its geopolitical position, Türkiye has managed to ensure energy diversification despite its increasing annual energy demands. Although this doen not reduce its energy dependency, it has been concluded that Türkiye can prevent the dependency ratio from rising further.