Turkey and Russia Close Pipeline Deal

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced on Thursday that Turkey granted permission to Russia to go ahead with the South Stream gas pipeline project. Russia’s South Stream project rivals a project called Nabucco, backed by the European Union.

[Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister]:
„The permit which has been demanded by the Russian side for the research which is necessary for the South Stream pipeline to pass through our land, has been given according to the spirit of our relations, depending on cooperation and friendship.“

The agreements, focused on gas and oil pipelines, are seen as boosting Turkey’s regional political clout and helping it realize its ambitions to become a hub for European energy supplies.

Russia, in turn, decided to support an oil pipeline planned to run from Turkey’s Black Sea town of Samsun to the Mediterranean oil hub of Ceyhan.

Turkey’s support for the project should ensure both delivery and supplies of Russian gas. This is a promise which the rival E.U.-backed Nabucco project, which is still searching for gas supplies, has yet to deliver.

But Erdogan said South Stream and Nabucco were not alternatives to one another, but reflected diversification in energy supplies. Putin echoed his comments.

[Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister]:
“Construction of the South Stream does not block Nabucco. Depending on demand from customers, both projects can be realized.”

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said construction of the South Stream pipeline will start in 2010.

Turkey and Russia have nearly 40 billion U.S. dollars in mutual trade, while Moscow supplies Turkey with two thirds of its natural gas.

(NTDTV)