Abdullah Agar, a leading Turkish security expert, told TASS that the attack on the TurkStream gas pipeline compressor station was not only aimed at disrupting Russian gas transportation but also had an impact on the geopolitical dynamics between Russia, Türkiye and Europe.
"The goal is clear: somehow to influence the positions of the parties to the Ukrainian conflict because they are sensitive to the gas issue. This is an attempt to influence the positions of Russia, Turkey and the positions of the parties receiving gas through Turkey. These are the European Union members in the Balkan countries that support the war," he said.
On the other hand, the attack on the last gas pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe "is the latest attempt to damage the relationship between Türkiye and Russia as well as Türkiye's efforts to become a gas hub," the expert added.
The attack on the TurkStream gas pipeline "has a broad impact on all parties involved in the conflict in Ukraine," said Abdullah Agar, an expert. "This is a strategic effort to exert pressure on a broad scale rather than targeting a single party. The choice of this specific target is important, given the implications for energy geopolitics. This sabotage is comparable to previous incidents involving the Nord Stream pipeline."

Also commenting on the attack on TurkStream, Türkiye's top energy expert Necdet Pamir told TASS that the US and the European Union appear to have an interest in attacking the pipeline's infrastructure.
"We have to ask ourselves who will suffer in case of sabotage? TurkStream has two parallel pipelines, each with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters. One pipeline meets Türkiye's gas needs, the other serves the needs of the Balkans and Central European countries. The attack does not seem to affect the gas supply. However, if the gas flow is interrupted, the Russian Federation, Turkey, the Balkans and Central European countries, especially Hungary, will be most affected. From this perspective, the United States and the current leaders of the EU, the satellites of the United States, are often suspects," he said.
Expert Necdet Pamir noted that there is currently no evidence for the arguments he just mentioned, but "similar claims were widely circulated after the Nord Stream attack".
"Moreover, this could be a message to Türkiye in response to its policy towards Syria," expert Necdet Pamir added.
Pamir hopes that "the relationship between the US and Russia will stabilize after the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump." He also hopes that after the elections in Germany and the EU, the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines will be put back into operation, which will help reduce gas prices to reasonable levels and thereby reduce Türkiye's gas import costs.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on January 13 that in order to disrupt the supply of Russian gas to Europe, on January 11, Ukraine deployed nine drones to attack the infrastructure of the Russkaya gas compressor station in the Krasnodar region, which supplies gas to the TurkStream pipeline. After the attack, the plant continued to operate and supply gas to the pipeline as usual.