Turkey, Azerbaijan and turkmenistan sat at the table for TANAP project

Top ranking representatives from Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the European Union sat at the table yesterday to discuss adding Turkmenistan, reportedly the holder of world's fourth largest natural gas reserves, to a $7 billion project that will carry the Azeri gas to Turkey. Speaking after talks in Turkmenistan's Asghabat, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said a structure that would carry Turkmen gas through Azerbaijan in a bid to ease trade was planned, referring to a trans-Caspian pipeline project. "We are a candidate to buy Turkmen gas," he said. The Trans-Anatolia Pipeline (TANAP) project, which was signed in June, is currently a Turkey-Azerbaijan initiative only. Turkmenistan's Energy Minister Myrat Artykow, Azerbaijan's Industry & Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev, European Union's Energy Commissioner Energy Guenther Oettinger, and Yildiz were present at yesterday's talks. "Turkmenistan gas cannot stay out of the region's gas movement. We talked about how the Turkmen gas could be included in this project within the frame of energy security," Yildiz was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency after a separate meeting with Turkmenistan President Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov.