By Sami Nader, Al-Monitor Lebanon Pulse, October 8, 2013

[....] The fundamental backstory to this conflict revolves around natural gas and gas-related dilemmas, which extend well-beyond the Syrian arena and directly encompass the other countries in the eastern Arab world such as Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey and even Cyprus [....]

Russia is a major player in these gas wars. Its tight reins over the Syrian card and staunch support of the Syrian regime conceal its overriding desire to defend its strategic interests. Foremost among these interests is the preservation of its privileged position as Europe's main supplier of natural gas and, conversely, denying any attempt at establishing alternative pipelines outside Russian control. For this reason, Moscow has opposed Turkey's growing role in this respect, particularly following the construction of the pipeline known as Nabucco.

The Nabucco pipeline skirts those regions under Russian influence [....]