TURK FM: NO EXPECT SHORTAGE IN GAS IMPORT FROM RUSSIA
Sept 17 2008
Turkey
Turkish President Gul said that they saw the will of the Armenian
side to solve the Karabakh issue between Azerbaijan-Armenia in their
meetings with Armenian President and FM during the soccer game.
Babacan said they were not expecting a problem (shortage) in Turkey’s
natural gas import from Russia during the Winter because of the crisis
in the Caucasus.
He said Turkey’s relations with Russia rested on mutual trust saying
that his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov had unequivocally rejected
these claims during his visit to Turkey
Underlying the importance of diversification of energy resources,
Babacan pointed out that the Russian Georgian conflict pushed Europe to
look for new supplies. He said the importance of the Nabucco pipeline
project –foreseen to carry eastern natural gas to EU countries over
Turkey– was once more seen.
Relations with Armenia
Commenting on President Gul’s recent visit to Armenia to watch a
2010 World Cup qualifying game between the national soccer teams of
Turkey and Armenia after decades of no diplomatic exchange with this
country, Babacan said a process to normalise relations between Turkey
and Armenia was in place even before this visit.
He said they saw the will of the Armenian side to solve the Karabakh
issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia in their meetings with Armenian
President Serzh Sargisian and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian
during the soccer game.
Babacan pointed out that the recent conflict between Russia and
Georgia showed how risky it was for countries in the region to keep
frozen conflicts. He said he feared that Azerbaijan’s energy projets
could be harmed and a situation similar to recent developments in
South Ossetia and Abkhazia could occur in Karabakh.
He referred to the food and energy shortage in Armenia and said Turkey
was exerting efforts to create an atmosphere encouraging a solution
to this problem.
Turkish Foreign Minister said positive developments between Azerbaijan
and Armenia would contribute to Turkey-Armenia relations.
Babacan said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice welcomed their
efforts.