Turkish PM Erdoğan meets Aliyev in first post-election visit

BAKU – Anatolia Agency

PM Erdoğan met with with President Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan on April 4. AA Photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid his first post-election visit to Azerbaijan on April 4, meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

Regional issues of common interest, including trade, energy, and investment were discussed during the meeting in the capital city of Baku. Accompanied by Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Erdoğan said the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute also came up on the agenda.

Turkey imports 6.6 billion of its 47 billion cubic meter natural gas demand annually from Azerbaijan via the Baku-Tblisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline. The Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline carries 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Headed by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), Turkish firms’ investments account for nearly $3 billion, while Azerbaijan aims to invest $15 billion in the Turkish energy sector up to 2018.

Currently, the Azerbaijani national oil company SOCAR is building the Star Refinery in İzmir on the Aegean coast, which will cost approximately $5.5 billion.

Ongoing preparations to build the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Project (TANAP), the scheme to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey, are to be completed by 2019 and will cost roughly $12 billion.

SOCAR owns 80 percent of the project, while the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) owns 15 percent. TPAO owns the remaining five percent.

When completed, TANAP will carry around 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe via TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline).