Turkey continues its recent course of rapid realignment with the Islamic world and increasing hostility toward the West. Why is it still in NATO? Why is anyone still thinking it would be good to have it in the European Union?
In the end, it doesn’t matter, as the Obama Administration may give Turkey a waiver to buy Iran’s oil, which means the sanctions are toothless fictions anyway.
“Turkey to keep buying Iran’s gas despite sanctions,” from Reuters, December 4 (thanks to Joshua):
Turkey will continue to buy natural gas from Iran despite the prospect of tighter US sanctions, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan said, indicating the measures are not likely to have much impact on the countries’ gold-for-gas trade.
The US Senate resoundingly approved expanded sanctions on global trade with Iran’s energy and shipping sectors on Friday its latest effort to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.
The new sanctions, which would be the third round in a year if passed into law, include measures aimed at stopping the flow of gold from Turkey to Iran in exchange for natural gas supplies. Washington says Tehran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in nuclear weapons. Iran says the programme is for peaceful purposes.
ErdoÄŸan said Iranian gas imports were vitally important for Turkey, which depends heavily on imported energy and is struggling to diversify its suppliers, and that the government had told the relevant parties the trade would continue.
“We have always told officials that the issue is of strategic importance to us and we couldn’t comply with the sanctions,” ErdoÄŸan told a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday….