The recent Armenian attacks began to escalate against Azerbaijan, between 12 and 16 July, when Armenian forces attacked Azeri targets in the Tovuz region (northwest).

This region has a sensitive strategic location on the energy security map in the region and the world, but the attacks there aim to destabilize energy security in both Azerbaijan and Turkey, according to an article by Yunus Franji published by Anadolu Agency.

Tovuz region

The Azerbaijani Tovuz region constitutes a corridor for several strategic projects in the fields of transportation and energy transmission, most notably the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum lines for transporting oil and gas, as well as the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project "Tanab", in addition to the Baku-Tbilisi Railway. - Qars, in addition to the fact that Armenia's targeting this region indicates Yerevan's desire to expand the conflict and move it outside Karabakh.

Azerbaijan (the country that exports oil and gas from the Caspian region to the international markets) contributes a great deal to Turkey's energy security.

In addition, international energy projects - which have a crucial role in Azerbaijan's recovery from the influence of Iran and Russia in the region - are in fact very vital to Baku, both economically and politically.

And Azerbaijan - which achieved large export numbers especially through natural gas and oil pipelines - began to show stronger economic performance compared to other countries in the South Caucasus.

Aware of these developments, Armenia - which is plagued by economic crises - sought to launch military attacks aimed at weakening Azerbaijan's growing influence in the region.

These developments have prompted Azerbaijan to develop effective strategies to liberate its occupied lands, after many years of the failure of the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to achieve any success that guarantees the restoration of Azerbaijani rights through negotiations, according to the words of the writer Franji, a researcher in the Energy Office of the Turkish "SITA" Center. For research and studies.

Azerbaijan and energy

Azerbaijan (one of the world's important producers of natural gas and oil) is located in a geographical area sensitive to the transfer of natural resources from the Caspian region to international energy markets.

The oil and gas pipelines that were established between Turkey and Azerbaijan enabled Baku to reach international markets, turning into an influential player in the Caucasus.

Studies of exploration for hydrocarbon resources, which have been underway since 1994, revealed that Azerbaijan possesses large reserves of natural gas in the Shah Deniz and Absheron fields in the Caspian Sea.

These discoveries have turned Baku - which possesses nearly 1.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 7 billion barrels of oil reserves - into an important producer of hydrocarbon resources.

Azerbaijan managed to export more than 30 million tons of oil and about 11 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, which is more than 90% of the country's exports, and those exports focused on reaching the markets of energy-hungry European countries.

Azerbaijan, which is making great progress in natural gas production, is expected to produce about 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually by 2040, according to the expectations of the International Energy Agency.

Baku is expected to become a more important player in global markets by sending Caspian oil and natural gas to world markets in larger quantities, as the writer says in his article.

Turkey and Azerbaijan participate in a project known as the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) (Getty Images)

Turkey and Azerbaijan

Looking at the energy cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline, observers show the great importance that energy transfer projects from Azerbaijan to the world markets via Turkey have;

This finally prompted the two countries to build a new project known as the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP).

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation expects that its annual share will reach 6.5%, with an annual capacity to export about 50 million tons of Azerbaijani crude oil.

The corporation has generated substantial income by transporting nearly 3.5 billion barrels of oil since 2006.

Azerbaijan plays a major role in transporting Kazakh oil to the port of Ceyhan via these pipelines, and it also plays an important role in transporting energy resources in Central Asia to international markets, as the writer says.

According to an agreement concluded by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, it is planned to export up to 21 million tons of Kazakh oil after building the necessary infrastructure facilities, with the aim of transferring 3 million tons of Kazakh oil annually through Azerbaijan despite opposition from Russia and Iran.

Through these projects, Azerbaijan has turned into an important player in the South Caucasus, especially with the tireless efforts of this country in developing economic and strategic sectors through oil revenues, and playing an important role in oil and gas production.

Through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline, Turkey began to reduce its dependence on Russia and Iran, and this project has contributed to increasing Turkey's energy security.

The Azerbaijani oil and gas contributed to reducing the Turkish energy bill of Iranian and Russian gas to some extent, and Turkey was able to increase the volume of consumption of these vital resources, as of 2020, with the start of the work of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline "Tanab".

 End Turkey's dependence on Russian gas

Turkey - whose dependence on Azeri gas has reached 35% - will be able to terminate the long-term contract for the use of Russian gas by the end of 2021. It is expected that Turkey's dependence on Russian and Iranian energy resources will decrease, after the start of "Tanab" to work at full capacity.

The Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is of particular importance in the global energy map, which has led many observers to call this line "Energy Silk Road".

This pipeline - which is expected to transport 16 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani natural gas to Turkey and international markets in the first phase, 24 billion cubic meters by 2023, and 31 billion cubic meters in 2026 - will increase Turkey's natural gas consumption.

While the Turkish profits from this project reach more than 40 billion dollars by 2045.

The "Tanab" pipeline - which starts from a point near the Turkish state of Edirne (northwest) to transport gas to the natural gas pipeline across the Adriatic Sea (TAP) via Greece and Italy - has turned into an important route in the natural gas supply map in Europe.