A. ORHAN
pass, and through the rivers of Volga and Don and Dinieper it
reaches the Baltic sea and the Northern European countries
(Scandinavian countries) and to the United Kingdom. Because
of the climate conditions this route became the one which was
used later on. (Vikipedi, 2011: p. 1).
The regions which are on the inbound and outbound silk
route include countries which come into prominence in the na-
tural resource trade today. The need and demand for energy
which is indispensible and irreplaceable for the development of
countries in today’s world is continuing everyday in an increa-
sing pace. Various methods have been used from the days in the
past up to today for the transportation and transmission of the
natural resources between the countries which demand the na-
tural resources and the countries which supplied these natural
resources. For many decades the transportation of natural re-
sources by sea which contributed alt to the welfare of countries
is carried out by means of pipeline transmission in today’s
world. The pipeline transmission and transportation which is
disadvantageous in comparison to other methods of transporta-
tion due to the fact that pipeline transmission has high invest-
ment costs can absorb these high investment costs in a short
time by virtue of the fact that it is speedy, economical, and
secure. The process of transmission and transportation by pipe-
lines which started with short distances at the beginning of the
previous century in certain regions is now carried out with lar-
ger size pipelines and with higher flow rates at long distances
thanks to the continuously developing technology and due to
the increasing consumption.
Pipeline transmission and transportation is a method which is
rather used for the transportation and transmission of petroleum
and natural gas, which are defined to be fossil fuels. The re-
gions of the Middle East and Central Asia which have appro-
ximately 70% of the reserves in the whole world meet 30% of
the petroleum production in the world. One of the most impor-
tant pipelines which are used for transportation and transmis-
sion of these reserves to other countries is the one which ex-
tends to the Persion Gulf from Saudi Arabia, which the big-
gest petroleum producer in the Middle East. And by this means
their petroleum reaches the ports from which it is transported to
the various parts of the world. On the other hand, the petroleum
reserves in Kirkuk and Mosul are transmitted to the ports on the
Mediterranean by way of such countries as Israel, Lebanon, and
Turkey. The reserves belonging to Iran are transmitted to both
Tahran and to the Persion Gulf in the south by means of two
pipelines. Russia, where the most important petroleum reserves
in the central Asian region lie carry these reserves in the region
of Volga-Ural to the north by means of four different pipelines
and then to Europe by way of Lithuania and Poland. The re-
serves in the Caspian region and sea belong to Azerbaijan. The
subject reserves are transmitted by means of two different pipe-
lines. One of these reaches the Black Sea by way of Tbilisi, and
the other pipeline reaches the port in the north of the Black Sea.
(DPT, 2001: pp. 2-4).
The natural gas reserves which have become a substituting
natural resource for petroleum as a result of the continuously
increasing need for energy during the recent decades takes its
place in the world trade by means of safe and speedy transmis-
sion through pipelines. Russia is one of the countries which has
one of the most important reserves in the world. And the coun-
try markets its natural gas reserves by means of transmission to
the European countries through four different pipelines. The
second biggest reserve that meets the natural gas need of the
European countries is in the North African countries of Algeria
and Morocco. These natural gas reserves are marketed and
transmitted to the European countries by means of pipelines
which pass from under the Mediterranean. The third biggest
supplier of natural gas for the European countries is Norway.
And Germany is the biggest importer of the natural gas of this
country. Norway markets natural gas to the European countries
by making use of six different pipelines. Iran, which is one of
the most important natural gas suppliers in the Middle East
transmits its natural gas to the Caspian region through two dif-
ferent pipelines (DPT, 2001: pp. 2-4).
Turkey has an important position in terms of geopolitical
importance. And our country is in the center of the region
which is the most important in terms of petroleum and natural
gas reserves. Turkey is in the middle of an area which is sur-
rounded by the supplier countries of natural resources such as
central Asia in the North, by Iran in the east, by the Middle East
countries in the south, as well as by the European countries in
the west which are the biggest demanders of such natural re-
sources. In other words, Turkey is in the center of the passing
route between the supplying countries of petroleum and natural
gas in the Middle East and the demanding countries in Europe
for such natural resources.
Turkey, Center of Natural Resource
Transportation and Transmission
In the 21st century, in addition to the production of natural
resources, the transmission and transportation of such resources
to those industrialized countries which carry out production
with the support of high technologies have importance. With
the regions which are accepted as “Strategic Terminal Centers”,
the passing route of the natural resource transmission is defined.
The passing routes are made up of either certain warehousing
and maintaining places or intercontinental geopolitical passing
points. The point that these passing routes should have such
qualities as being controllable and auditable by the countries
trading in the natural resources and by the multinational corpo-
rations is an important criteria, because the negative effects of
the political and economic instability that may arise in the
countries which are on the passing route of these natural re-
sources directly influence the international markets. The prices
which are influenced by these instabilities that may take place
cause increasing costs, stagnation, unemployment, and foreign
trade deficits. (Gökırmak, 1996: pp. 154-155).
Turkey is a country which has the potentiality of becoming a
“Strategic Terminal Center” because the country is on the route
between the countries in the Central Asian region and the Mid-
dle East where there are rich natural resources produced by the
countries in the aforementioned regions and the countries in the
European region where there are industrialized nations which
have big demand for these natural resources. Generating poli-
cies for providing security for the supply and trading of petro-
leum and natural gas which are the main products among the
fossil fuels and applying such policies are very important for
Turkey in the medium run and in the long run. In this context, it
is necessary to urgently prepare and actualize projects for the
purposes of transmission and transportation of natural resources.
In order that the security for the supply and transmission of
natural resources can be provided some such criteria as geo-
graphical location, political stability, high consumption, guar-
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