Ankara, July 13: Turkey’s energy minister says his country doesn’t rule out the possibility of joining Iran and Russia in the Nabucco gas pipeline in the future.
Taner Yildiz told private NTV television that Tehran and Moscow may be involved in the EU- and US-backed project planned to pump gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe via Turkey.
“We should not be surprised if we see Russia as a supplier one day,” Yildiz said. “We can also easily see Iran in this project as a supplier in the future.”
Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria are expected to sign the multi-billion dollar project Monday to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.
The US has made it clear that it does not support Iran’s involvement in the gas pipeline until Tehran ‘changes its policies’.
Last month Richard Morningstar, the US special envoy for Eurasian energy issues, said that Iran can only join Nabucco undertaking after the normalization of ties between Tehran and Washington.
He told a group of reporters in Ankara on Thursday that inviting Iran to the project without a resolution to the standoff over its nuclear program could “have a negative effect.”
Asked about Iran’s nuclear issue, Yildiz said that such gas projects may help improve the international environment.
He noted that his country has information that “some European countries have already signed initial agreements with Iran”. He did not disclose the name of the EU states.
The pipeline is to link the Caspian Sea region, the Middle East and Egypt to the European Union via Turkey.
The Nabucco consortium, which aims at decreasing Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas, has been unable to find sufficient gas supplies necessary for the feasibility of the project.
Turkey, which is a member of the consortium, has repeatedly voiced its support for Iran’s involvement in the project.
——Agencies