Via Al Monitor, a report on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan interest in a gas deal that would extend into Europe:

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that the trilateral summit between Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan this week will focus on Ankara’s plans to carry Turkmen gas to Turkey and from there to Europe amid Russian supply cuts.

“This summit is mainly aimed at taking this step on natural gas,” Erdogan said in a televised presser Tuesday before his departure for Turkmenistan. “My hope is bringing Turkmen gas through the Caspian sea.”

The Turkish government officials floated the Turkmen gas plans this summer as European countries were rushing to diversify their gas suppliers amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In June, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay announced that Ankara was working on various routes to transit gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan and into the TANAP pipeline, which runs across Turkey to Greece and on to broader Europe. 

A possible gas deal during the Dec. 14 summit in Caspian resort town of Awaza could provide leverage for Ankara vis-a-vis Western capitals at a time when Russian gas supply cuts to Europe have stoked global energy prices.

A potential deal can also strengthen Erdogan’s standing at home in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections due by June. Alongside defense projects, energy investments are playing a central role in Erdogan’s election campaign. In an effort to portray himself as a trailblazer in the country’s energy policies, Erdogan has been touting his government’s hydrocarbon exploration projects across the country and in its waters. After the 2020 discovery of more than 300 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea, Erdogan announced on Monday that 150 million barrels of net oil reserves had been discovered in southeast Turkey. These announcements, seen by many as electioneering, are widely taken with a grain of salt.