Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev rejects Turkey’s proposal on gas transit
2009-10-17 12:13:00
ArmInfo. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev says Turkey pays too
little for natural gas and Baku will seek other routes to deliver its
gas to Europe, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reports.
Aliyev said at a cabinet meeting in Baku on October 16 that Turkey is
paying Azerbaijan only one-third of world-market prices and demands
high transit fees. The meeting was shown on national television.
His comments follow sharp criticism from Baku over improved relations
between its erstwhile ally Turkey and Armenia, with whom it is in
conflict with over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Aliyev said the current offer from Turkey made during negotiations
since April "will never be accepted by Azerbaijan." Aliyev added that
Azerbaijan signed a contract with Russian gas giant Gazprom two days
ago and will begin selling gas to Russia early next year, saying that
"there is no transit country between Russia and Azerbaijan."
He also said that there are no limits to how much gas Azerbaijan can
offer to Russia.
While he mentioned Russia as one possible route for Azerbaijani gas,
he said another option is selling gas to southern neighbor Iran, which
he noted buys gas from Turkmenistan.
The Azerbaijani president listed another option for exporting gas to
the European Union "through Georgia and Black Sea ports," saying that
Baku has had extensive talks with Romania and "can work with
Bulgaria."