Many people, myself included, would be hesitant to compare Turkey to the United States. They’re half a world apart, after all.
Turkey’s GDP is nowhere close to that of the United States, and it is a predominately Islamic country with a completely different cultural heritage.
But upon closer inspection, you’ll notice the country’s soft southern border policies, willingness to partner with less-than-reputable characters, and its insatiable appetite for cheap energy gives it a striking resemblance to the U.S.
So it’s ironic that despite Turkey’s similarities with the U.S., the Turkish and American governments have grown increasingly at odds with one another.
The differences begin in Syria with the proliferation of ISIS.
As many government officials and media pundits have pointed out, because of its location, Turkey has a vital role to play in the fight against ISIS…
And yet the country hasn’t played its part.
Cooperation with ISIS
Way back when President Obama planned to intervene in Syria to oust President Bashar al-Assad, Turkish relations with the U.S. were at an all-time high.
Both nations were united on the premise of eliminating an unstable regime in an oil-rich region.
But once the U.S. decided not to intervene, the buddy-buddy attitude between the two cooled. From there, the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria brought on a 180-degree turn for the Obama administration.
America now needed the support of Assad and Turkey’s government against ISIS.
Despite Turkey’s strategic location, it hasn’t budged one bit. In fact, it’s acted in favor of the violent militants at times…
It negotiated with ISIS in September of 2013, exchanging 180 militants for 49 hostages, and earlier this year, when a border town was under siege, Turkey’s military did nothing.
Add to that the fact that the government hasn’t allowed the forces fighting against ISIS to use Turkish land to launch strikes and that Turkey’s lax border policies have allowed it to serve as a place for terrorists to transfer oil, weapons, and recruit new soldiers illegally.
In fact, the only bright spot for Turkish diplomacy in the Middle East has been the country’s unprecedented cooperation with Kurdistan.
For years, the moderate Kurds and Turkish government have been in a constant, violent struggle, but recent oil-based agreements have changed everything.
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Blood in the Streets, Money in Your Pocket
Take a look at the image below, and you can understand why Turkey made a complete reversal on Kurdistan and is so eager for stability in Syria…
Turkey is using more and more oil without increasing production, and when this happens, a country must let bygones be bygones.
After years of fighting each other, the PKK (a Kurdish military faction) and the Turkish government are holding peace talks, and from an outside point of view, these talks seem to hinge on oil production.
If you remember, Kurdistan is located in Northern Iraq, Eastern Syria, and Southern Turkey, and most Kurds have ideals that align closer with Western attitudes.
As such, the U.S. has made the Kurds an ally in the fight against ISIS, and Turkey has started giving them a wider berth of independence in Iraq.
This means oil.
Since this summer, the energy world has been abuzz about Kurdistan’s United Kalavryta, an oil tanker carrying more than 1 million barrels of crude from long-neglected oil fields in Iraq’s north.
All summer, amidst the ISIS crisis, Iraq’s government in Baghdad has found time to condemn the United Kalavryta as illegal, but Kurdistan still demands it be allowed to sell its oil…
The Kurds pumped the oil out of the ground and shipped it via pipeline through its historical enemy Turkey, where it was then exported abroad.
This unprecedented amount of cooperation has created an investment in a region that is typically the playground for Big Oil.
My colleague Christian DeHaemer has found a small player with a huge stake in a 13.7 billion-barrel oil field in the Kurdish region — untouched by ISIS and unhampered by the government in Baghdad.
This driller is well on its way to pumping 40,000 barrels of oil per day, and at a huge discount to even today’s low oil prices.
I suggest you read Chris’s report on the company and find some serious profit from a new diplomatic tie in the Middle East.
Until next time,
Keith Kohl
Check us out on YouTube!A true insider in the technology and energy markets, Keith’s research has helped everyday investors capitalize from the rapid adoption of new technology trends and energy transitions. Keith connects with hundreds of thousands of readers as the Managing Editor of Energy & Capital, as well as the investment director of Angel Publishing’s Energy Investor and Technology and Opportunity.
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