Legal Analysis of the Turkstream Gas Pipeline Project

Abstract

Gas pipeline projects are still significant projects as natural gas is increasingly used in electricity generation and LNG is not still cheaper option for most of the countries. Even though pipeline projects are being constructed widely all over the world, there is not parallel advancement in international pipeline legal regime. Turkstream, as one of the latest pipeline projects, clearly shows this lack of unified legal regime whereby the legal regime of Turkstream consists of the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between Turkey and Russia, host government agreements and some provisions of other international treaties. Considering possible the lack of consistency between legal regimes of different projects, Energy Charter Secreteriat has prepared the model intergovernmental agreement in order to ensure consistency between different IGA’s. In line with this model agreement, in this paper, some prominent institution reports, books and journal articles are used for analysing the legal framework of Turkstream and afterward its consistency with the model agreement is examined in order to assess its strengths and shortcomings. It is found that the legal regime of the Turkstream project is sound and mostly consistent with the model agreement, but lack of some provisions could also bring some problems during the implementation of the project.

Keywords

• Transboundary Pipelines
• Turkstream
• IGA
• Energy Charter Treaty
• UNCLOS

Türkakımı Projesinin Hukuki İncelemesi

Abstract

Elektrik üretiminde doğalgazın kullanımının artması ve LNG’nin birçok ülke bakımından henüz ucuz bir seçenek olmamasından dolayı gaz boru hattı projeleri önemini korumaya devam etmektedir. Her ne kadar boru hattı projeleri dünya genelinde yaygın bir biçimde yapılmaya ve uygulanmaya devam etse de, uluslararası boru hattı yasal rejimi konusunda buna mukabil bir gelişme görülmemektedir. En yeni boru hattı projelerinden biri olan ve yasal altyapısı Türkiye ve Rusya arasındaki hükümetler arası anlaşma, ev sahibi hükümet anlaşması ve diğer uluslararası anlaşmaların bazı hükümlerinden oluşan Türkakımı projesi de bu anlamda yekpare bir yasal rejim eksikligini en açık biçimde göstermektedir. Her bir projenin kendine ait bir yasal rejiminin olmasından kaynaklı farklılık ve tutarsızlıkların önüne geçmek amacıyla Enerji Şartı Sekreterligi örnek hükümetler arası anlaşma hazırlamıştır. Bu makalede, işbu örnek anlaşma metni esas olmak üzere çeşitli organizasyon raporları, kitaplar ve dergi makaleleri incelenerek Türkakımı projesi, eksik ve güçlü yönlerini tespit edebilmek amacıyla hukuki açıdan ele alınmıştır. Tüm bu araştırmaların sonucunda Türkakımı projesinin hukuksal olarak sağlam ve örnek anlaşma ile çoğunlukla örtüşmekte olduğu; ancak bazı hükümlerin eksikliğinin projenin gelecekte uygulanması aşamasında birtakım sorunlara yol açabileceği tespit edilmiştir.

Keywords

• Sınırötesi Boru Hatları
• Türkakımı
• Hükümetler Arası Anlaşma
• Enerji Şartı Sekreterligi
• UNCLOS

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