Turkey, Azerbaijan ink deal for $7 bln gas project

DHAKA: Turkey signed a deal with Azerbaijan to build the $7 billion Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline (TANAP) to carry Azeri gas to European markets.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız and his Azeri counterpart Natiq Aliyev put their signatures on the agreement, reports daily Hurriyet June 27.

‘We have taken a historic step’, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his speech Tuesday at the signing ceremony.

Erdoğan stressed that the landmark agreement had come on the heels of two significant previously-realized pipeline projects.

‘The Baku-Tbilisi-Cayhan crude oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline connect each other in a very special way’, he said.

The project will establish an ‘organic bond’ between Azerbaijan and Europe, he added.

‘What makes these projects a reality is the fraternity and friendship relations between the two countries’, Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan has about 2.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, which will be enough to supply gas for the TANAP pipeline for almost 100 years, he added.

BDST: 1619 HRS, JUN 27, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor