TURKEY INTERESTED IN TRANS-CASPIAN GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION – GUL
Russia & CIS General Newswire
November 6, 2007 Tuesday 7:25 PM MSK
Turkey is interested in the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas
pipeline project, Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said.
"We should attach primary importance to the construction of
a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, and we need to cooperate with our
Turkmen brothers more actively to this end," Gul said at a joint press
conference with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev summing up the outcomes
of their negotiations in Baku on Tuesday.
Turkey would like to see peace in the South Caucasus as soon as
possible, including through the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in a peaceful way, on condition that Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity is preserved, and Ankara is willing to contribute efforts
to this end, Gul said.
Gul thanked the Azeri leadership for supporting the non-recognized
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s efforts to end its international
isolation.
Talking about economic cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan,
Gul said, "Our midterm goal is to increase trade turnover from the
current more than $1 billion to more than $3 billion," he said.
"Turkey is prepared to be involved in Azerbaijan’s economy more
actively through investment and trade and economic ties," he said.
Turkey hopes for the soonest possible implementation of the Baku-
Tbilisi-Kars railroad construction project, Gul said.
Gul also mentioned the establishment of a common Azeri-Turkish-
Georgian economic zone as a common goal for the three countries and
called for easing conditions for cargo transportation.
About 2,000 Turkish companies operating in Azerbaijan have invested
$2.5 billion in that country’s economy, Gul said. Turkish businesses
have made the largest investment in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan,
and the overall volume of Turkish investment in Azerbaijan’s economy,
including the energy sector, amounts to $5 billion, he said.