TANAP is a trump card for Turkey in negotiations with Gazprom

American expert Bruce Pannier suggests that Turkey and Russia will resume negotiations on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, and the Ankara leadership will be able to use TANAP (Trans Anatolian Pipeline), intended for the supply of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field, as the main trump card.

Pannier, who specializes in Central Asian energy, says: “It seems that Moscow, and more importantly Gazprom, have never forgotten about Turkish Stream. After President Erdogan's letters to Putin, Russian officials immediately started talking about the project. And, perhaps, soon the parties will resume negotiations on this issue "

Relations between Russia and Turkey have been in crisis since November 2015 after the incident with the downed Russian Su-24. But the letters received from the Turkish president, in which he expressed regret over the deceased pilot and called Russia an important partner, were regarded by the Russian side as a step towards normalizing relations between the countries.

However, regarding the Turkish Stream project in order to supply Russian gas via the Black Sea to Turkey, Peskov said that it is too early to talk about the project's resumption. At the same time, expert Pannier noted that Turkey's interest in this project is quite high, but Ankara will soon receive gas through the TANAP pipeline. Pannier also said that TANAP will be ready in 2018 and Ankara is likely to want to negotiate with Russia on gas supplies.