Turkish-Azerbaijani natural gas supplies to Syria, launched through a joint initiative last August, will contribute to the country's development and to regional security, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
"The contribution of natural gas supplies to Syria, which began last August as a result of the joint initiative of Turkey and Azerbaijan, to that country's development and to regional security is indisputable," Erdogan said in a message delivered at the opening of Baku Energy Week, as reported by the Anadolu news agency.
Erdogan said recent developments in the region had once again demonstrated the importance of the energy initiatives undertaken jointly with Azerbaijan, noting that the two countries had delivered major projects once considered impossible for the region. He specifically cited the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines, as well as the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), all implemented in cooperation with Azerbaijan and with Georgia's involvement. Cooperation between the two countries has deepened further through the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli and Shah Deniz joint ventures, he added, while a new partnership on the Shafag-Asiman field shows that bilateral energy cooperation continues unabated.
Erdogan noted that the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline, which came into operation last year, has strengthened energy supply security for Azerbaijan's autonomous region of Nakhchivan. Electricity interconnections between Turkey and Azerbaijan remain of strategic importance, he said, and a green energy transmission and trading project involving Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Bulgaria is expected to contribute to broader regional energy security.
On regional energy corridors, Erdogan highlighted significant opportunities for expanding cooperation on natural gas exports from Turkmenistan via Azerbaijan and Turkey, and noted that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is increasingly being used to transport Kazakhstan's natural resources to western markets.
Erdogan described Turkey as holding a vision that ensures effectiveness across all dimensions of energy, including renewables and green energy, grounded in efficiency and environmental responsibility. He closed by announcing that Turkey will host COP31 in Antalya from 9 to 20 November, reinforcing its ambition to be among the leading countries in global climate action.
Source: CNA
