The EU's energy supply security: options for gas supply diversification and the role of Turkey

With the gas disruptions to the European Union in 2006 and 2009 Ukrainian crises, the Community decided to diversify its supply sources and routes, develop energy infrastructure between the member states and increase energy efficiency to strengthen energy security of the Union. The thesis will examine the possibility of nine countries as being an alternative to Russian gas, and it will analyze Turkey's role in transmitting gas from the Caspian, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean regions to Europe. Besides, the energy security of Southeast European countries will be briefly mentioned since it is important for the energy security of the Community. The thesis argues that besides Azeri gas which will be supplied to Europe in the shortrun, Iraq has a potential to supply gas to Europe via pipelines in the medium to long-run. Moreover, Israel, Egypt, and Iran are potential LNG suppliers to the EU in the medium to long-run