MEDVEDEV HAILS ENERGY COOPERATION WITH TURKEY

RIA Novosti
January 13, 2010
Barvikha

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev praised energy cooperation with
Turkey on Wednesday and said he looked to joint efforts in addressing
regional disputes.

Meeting with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at his
country residence near Moscow, Medvedev highlighted joint gas and
oil projects: "We are happy to maintain serious cooperation in this
sphere."

Russia and Turkey signed energy deals in August 2009, which will
support Turkey’s drive to become a regional hub for gas and oil
transits while helping Moscow diversify supply routes and potentially
maintain its monopoly on natural gas shipments from Asia to Europe.

Turkey allowed Russia’s Gazprom to use its sector of the Black Sea
for the South Stream pipeline to pump Russian and Central Asian gas
to Europe bypassing Ukraine. And Russia agreed to join a consortium
to build the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline from the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean.

The two states also agreed to expand the existing Blue Stream gas
pipeline for possible shipments via Turkey to Cyprus and Israel.

Russia was also reported to be seeking to take part in the construction
of Turkey’s first nuclear power plants.

Echoing the Russian leader, Erdogan highlighted the importance of
energy ties and said their countries enjoy "an exemplary cooperation"
in the sector.

Medvedev said he hoped Erdogan’s current visit will promote "stronger
ties between our countries," which he said were important for
"addressing complicated regional problems."

Turkey upset its close ally Azerbaijan by agreeing to open diplomatic
relations with Armenia late last year.

The two bitter rivals have been locked in a dispute over Nagorny
Karabakh since before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russia has
been driving efforts to reach a settlement in the conflict over
the ethnic-Armenian region in Azerbaijan, which has been de facto
independent since the 1990s.

Meeting with Erdogan later on Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin said global economic recession sent Russian-Turkish
trade down 40% last year, from its all-time high of $35 billion
in 2008, but Turkey remains one of Russia’s key trade partners,
outpacing the United States and Britain.