TANAP to connect South Caucasus with Balkan Peninsula
By Aynur Jafarova
The Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline project, which is one of the most important energy projects in the region, will connect the South Caucasus with the countries of the Balkan Peninsula.
This remark was made by Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on September 30, Turkish media reported.
"Azerbaijan and Turkey create an energy corridor, which will connect the South Caucasus with the Balkan countries," he said.
He also noted the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline are also important projects jointly implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Davutoglu said Azerbaijan and Turkey will continue to implement joint energy projects in the future as well.
TANAP, developed by SOCAR in collaboration with Turkish Botas and the energy company TPAO, will deliver Shah Deniz's gas to the Turkish-Greek border from eastern Turkey.
The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters of gas a year. TANAP will link up with Trans-Adriatic (TAP) pipeline on the Turkish-Greek border. About six billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest to Europe. The costs of the TANAP project are estimated at $10 billion to $11 billion.
Azerbaijan and Turkey's relations have always been strong due to their common culture and history and the mutual intelligibility of Turkish and Azerbaijani languages.
Turkey was the first country in the world to recognize Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in its efforts to consolidate its independence, preserve its territorial integrity, and realize its economic potential that arises from the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea.
Economic projects, jointly implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, are bringing these countries together and strengthening their cooperation. The two countries' economies and cooperation have reached a high level.
SOCAR is one of the world's most well-established oil companies, active in Turkey since May 30, 2008. SOCAR is involved in a number of major investment projects in Turkey, including the construction of TANAP, Star refinery, and others. The volume of investment of SOCAR in Turkey's economy will reach $5 billion by late 2014.