ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pays his first post-election visit to close energy partner Azerbaijan on Friday, accompanied by Energy Minister Taner Yıldız.

The two have met their Azerbaijani counterparts, as well as President Ilham Aliyev. Regional issues of common interest, including energy were expected to dominate their agenda.

Turkey imports 6.6 billion of its 47 billion cubic meter natural gas demand annually from Azerbaijan via the Baku-Tblisi- Erzurum natural gas pipeline. The Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline carries 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.

TANAP's importance as alternative energy source

Ongoing preparations to build the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Project (TANAP), the scheme to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey, is to be completed by 2019 and will cost around US$12 billion.

When completed, TANAP will carry around 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe via TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline).

TANAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) has been a focal point of recent discussions about Europe decreasing its dependency on Russian gas.