HILMI GULER: TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BENEFICIAL FOR UNION MORE THAN FOR THE COUNTRY ITSELF

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2009 14:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Energy Minister said Wednesday that Turkey
doesn’t want to lose time with discussions in Nabucco project.

Speaking at a panel discussion on "Europe’s Energy Corridor Turkey:
Expectations and Difficulties" in Brussels, Turkish Minister of
Energy & Natural Resources Hilmi Guler said that Turkey supports and
participates in Nabucco.

"This project is our baby. We started it and we will complete it
successfully just like we did in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
project, the Shah Sea project and the Turkey-Greece line," Guler said.

"We want this project to be concluded as soon as possible. We do not
want to lose any more time with discussions. It is now time to work,
not to talk," he said.

Guler said that there is currently a disagreement in the Nabucco
project as other parties do not take into account Turkey’s needs.

Commenting on Turkey-EU negotiations, Guler said that the chapter on
energy has not been opened to negotiation, although Turkey has taken
all the necessary steps.

"If we focus on energy issue, it is obvious that Turkey’s EU membership
would be for the benefit of the Union, more than for the country
itself," Guler said, Anatolian Agency reports