President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday told his Azerbaijani and Turkmen counterparts that they need to “start working on the transfer of Turkmen natural gas to Western markets.”
Erdoğan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkmen leader Serdar Berdymukhamedov met in the western Turkmen city of Awaza to address steps to further deepen cooperation between the three countries in various areas, particularly trade, energy and transportation.
The Turkish leader said the trio needs to start working on transporting Turkmen natural gas to Western markets.
“We are ready to cooperate with our Turkmen and Azerbaijani brothers in the field of friendship in the Caspian. In addition, we attach importance to the development of mutual electricity trade between our countries in our region.”
"In this context, we are ready to work on electricity transmission from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to our country," Erdoğan said.
Meanwhile, amid European sanctions on Russian oil supplies and the heightened importance of the search for alternative energy sources like natural gas, Türkiye has been at the forefront, with the Russian and Turkish leaders discussing several times the notion of the country becoming a natural gas hub.
Moscow remains keen on creating a natural gas hub in Türkiye, according to the latest statement by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko on Tuesday.
"The idea is absolutely on the table, and we hope it will be implemented," he told Russian news agency RIA, stressing that such an arrangement "will be in everyone's interests, both gas producers and consumers."
Despite the chatter around green energy, particularly in the West, it is obvious that this transition will take longer than what the "dreamers of a carbon-free world" first believed, the Russian official said.
"It is clear to all rational-minded economists that gas, as the cleanest carbon fuel, will remain the primary energy source for many years, even if it may be in a transitional period," said Grushko.
"So we need to think about the things we have been for many years-stability in supply, stability in demand, stability in transit, stability in the legal climate in which transactions are conducted, and ... energy strategies," he added.
Azerbaijan’s Aliyev, also speaking at the press meeting held in Turkmen city on Wednesday, said Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan have achieved great success in the field of transportation and logistics and have realized many projects.
“These also open new opportunities for transportation connections. Investments in this field in all three countries contributed to the establishment of modern infrastructure,” he said.
Aliyev, who said that Azerbaijan has become a transit country, stated that they are working to open the Zangezur corridor and that “40% of the railway and 70% of the highway have been completed" in the part of the corridor that passes through Azerbaijan.”
“The works will be completed in 2024 and ultimately a new transportation corridor will be created,” he said.
Work started on the Zangezur corridor after Azerbaijan liberated its lands from Armenian occupation and the route will connect Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia, Russia and Türkiye, paving the way from Asia to Europe and the Middle East.
The project will not only open up a lot of economic opportunities but also contribute to the formation of long-term peace in the South Caucasus.
Stating that the International Baku Port has a cargo carrying capacity of 15 million tons per year and that they plan to increase this volume to 25 million tons, Aliyev invited companies from Türkiye and Turkmenistan to benefit from the opportunities of the Alat Economic Zone on the Caspian coast, the foundation of which was laid last year.
Recalling that he and President Erdoğan opened the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in 2017, Aliyev said, "More than $100 million will be invested in this project and the carrying capacity of the line will be increased from 1 million to 5 million tons."
