Turkmenistan Invited to TANAP

Turkey and Azerbaijan urge Turkmenistan to take part in the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Ashgabat on Thursday.

Following the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Cavusoglu told reporters that during the meeting they discussed issues of cooperation in the energy sector and special attention was paid to the gas sector. In particular, the sides discussed issues of gas supplies from the Caspian region to Europe, which will ensure diversification of gas supplies to Europe and Europe's energy security.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey and Azerbaijan urged Turkmenistan to join the pipeline project TANAP, which will play an important role in the organization of Caspian natural gas to the European market. Turkish Foreign Minister also noted that for the construction of TANAP the necessary documents were prepared and the materials were purchased, and the tenders will soon be announced.

In turn, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that currently his country had completed the preparation of documents and is hard at work on the projects TANAP and TAP (Trans Adriatic).

He also stressed that Turkmenistan is interested in cooperation in this matter.

* TANAP and TAP projects involve the construction of a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field through Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania to the south of Italy in 2019. It is planned to supply 6 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and 10 billion cubic meters to Europe. In the future the capacity of the pipeline can be increased to 31 billion cubic meters. -02D-