Erdogan offers partnership in Nabucco project to Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan Deputy Prime Minister Hocamohammed Mohammedov yesterday arrived in Ankara to attend the meeting of Turkey-Turkmenistan Joint Economic Commission, with a high-level delegation, consisting of ministers and senior bureaucrats. Mohammedov met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Deputy Prime Minister Nazim Erken, State Minister for foreign trade Kursat Tuzmen, and Industry and Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan were also in attendance at the meeting. During the meeting, Erdogan said, "Turkey and Turkmenistan can work jointly to realize the Nabucco Project." For his turn, Mohammedov said, "Turkmenistan places great importance on Turkey and Turkish investors." Nabucco is a 3,300-kilometer natural gas pipeline running from the Caspian Sea via Turkey and the Balkan states to Austria. The construction of the pipeline is expected to begin in 2009 and end in 2012. The project has a great importance for EU to reduce its dependence on Russian supplies. Addressing the joint economic committee meeting, Caglayan said, "Being the safest energy corridor of the world, Turkey can enable Turkmenistan to export its natural gas and oil to western markets in the safest and quickest way," adding that Turkey has the necessary infrastructure to perform this. Mohammedov also separately met with Tuzmen and Caglayan. Stating that the trade volume between the two countries has significantly increased in 2007, Tuzmen said that Turkish contractors would invest $5 billion in construction sector of Turkmenistan in 2008. During his meeting with Mohammedov, Caglayan said, "Turkey is ready to share its industrialization experience with Turkmenistan," adding that the two countries could cooperate to establish small-scaled industry estates and industrial zones.