ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday backed the creation of a new natural gas pipeline
that could ease Europe’s dependence on Russia by linking up with energy-rich
Turkmenistan.
اضافة اعلان
The Turkish leader’s remarks came during a three-way
summit with the presidents of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in the isolated city
of Awaza.
The meeting came with Europe trying to end its
dependence on Russian energy following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Erdogan has tried to play a role of a middle man in
the conflict by maintaining close working relations with Russian President
Vladimir Putin while supplying Kyiv with arms.
He has backed Putin’s idea of creating a new “gas
hub” in Turkey that could supply European clients while bypassing existing
pipelines running through Ukraine and under the Baltic Sea.
But he also lent his support on Wednesday to a new
project that could link Turkmenistan with an existing pipeline running from
Turkey to Azerbaijan.
“We carry Caspian Sea gas to
Europe via (the
existing) corridor, which is the backbone of the Trans-Anatolian natural gas
pipeline,” Erdogan said in remarks released by his office. “We need to launch
work on transporting Turkmen natural gas to Western markets in the same way.”
The US Energy Information Administration lists
Turkmenistan as the world’s sixth-largest holder of proven natural gas
reserves.
Much of its past gas volumes have reached world
markets via pipeline running to Russia.
But its has also been ramping up supplies to China
and is looking for ways to access other markets via Turkey.
Erdogan has long dreamt of using Turkey’s location
on the edges of the Middle East and Europe to turn it into one of the world’s
main centers of the energy trade.
Central Asian countries have also been reassessing
their once-close relations with Moscow since
Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia’s decision to limit gas supplies in retaliation for
Western sanctions have left European countries scrambling for supplies as they
head into the winter months.
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