Turkish Minister of Energy: Azerbaijan may join 'Turkish Stream'

Azerbaijan may join the Turkish Stream gas project, Turkiye's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said, according to Report.

He said Turkiye buys natural gas from 15 different sources.

"We are planning to become a gas hub in South-Eastern Europe. The agreement penned in Bulgaria has become a first step in this direction. In this sense, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran are among the countries with the largest natural gas deposits. We should also take into account the gas sources in the east of the Caspian Sea, Iraq and Eastern Mediterranean," the minister said.

Donmez recalled that technical negotiations with Bulgaria had been held in recent months.

"Three weeks ago, our president (Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan - ed.) received a Bulgarian delegation in Istanbul. Energy and natural gas were on the agenda. Bulgaria, like us, is a country dependent on external energy supplies. They were in search of alternative sources," the minister noted.

He also stated that Turkiye has a powerful infrastructure.

“We have increased the capacity of our storage facilities. First of all, we are talking about the security of supplies for our consumers, processing and transporting gas for domestic consumption.

"Our contracts with Russia have been in force for several years. Russia was our first supplier. The agreement (with Russia - ed.) was signed while the late Ozal was in power (former Turkish President Turgut Ozal - ed.)," Donmez said.

He added that at the time the current leadership came to power, only five large cities and 50 districts were gasified.

"As of today, we have gasified 81 districts. The capacity of the pipeline from the west was not enough. Gas through the Blue Stream (gas pipeline between Russia and Turkiye - ed.) began to flow from Samsun. TANAP started working after that. Two pipelines were put into operation as part of the 'Turkish Stream' project. The first line is intended for gas supplies to Turkish consumers, the second - for gas supply to European countries through Bulgaria. Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran can be participants here," Fatih Donmez said.