Turkish, Russian leaders hail ‘historic’ TurkStream project

By Nilay Kar Onum, Handan Kazanci and Elena Teslova

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish and Russian presidents hailed Wednesday TurkStream natural gas pipeline project, saying the cooperation between two countries has been improving in all fields “despite efforts at obstruction.”

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of TurkStream project in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan termed the project “historic” in terms of bilateral ties and cooperation in the energy field.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was also in attendance of the launch ceremony.

The TurkStream project consists of two lines with a total capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year. The first line will carry 15.75 bcm of Russian gas to Turkish consumers every year, and the second line will carry another 15.75 bcm from Russia to Europe via Turkey.

BOTAS built the first line that will connect to Turkey’s existing gas grid, while the second line, to be operated by a Gazprom-BOTAS joint venture, will stretch to the Turkish-European border in Turkey's Thrace region.

Erdogan said the TurkStream project was concluded successfully as planned, and added that the bilateral trade with Russia has been regularly improving.

Also addressing the launch ceremony, Putin said the Russian-Turkish cooperation has been developing in all fields despite efforts at obstruction.

“I am sure that in the future Russia and Turkey will implement many more mutually beneficial projects both in energy and other areas,” he said.

There are tendencies to raise tensions in the region but Turkey and Russia aim at the opposite, the Russian president stressed.

Turkey did not allow divergence in opinions with Russia to derail common interests, Erdogan also said.

- Eastern Mediterranean

During his speech, Erdogan ruled out any project in the Eastern Mediterranean excluding Turkey.

“There is no chance of realizing any project in the Eastern Mediterranean that excludes our country […],” he said.

Last week, Greece, Israel, and the Greek Cypriot administration signed an agreement for the EastMed project to build a 1,900-kilometer (1,180-mile) natural gas pipeline that will run from Israel through Southern Cyprus, Crete, Greece and ultimately to Italy.

Turkey is a guarantor nation for Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration's unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting that the TRNC also has rights to the resources in the area.

In 1974, following a coup aimed at the annexation of Cyprus by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, the TRNC was founded.

The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the Cyprus dispute, all ending in failure. The latest, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece and the U.K. -- came to an end without any progress in 2017 in Switzerland.