Moscow - The presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and
Turkey held a private summit Saturday in the city of Turkmenbashi to
discuss possible cooperation in the construction of a gas pipeline
across the Caspian Sea.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov hosted Azerbaijan's
Ilham Aliyev and Turkey's Abdullah Gul, but no agreements were
signed, Interfax agency reported.
Gul said the discussions were good, and reiterated Turkey's
interest in developing an efficient partnership in the fields of
energy and transport.
The construction of a transport corridor between Europe and Asia
was also discussed at the trilateral summit.
Europe especially has a keen interest in Turkmenistan's rich oil
and gas deposits. Ever since Russian gas monopoly Gazprom shut off
supplies to Ukraine in a pricing dispute in January 2006, causing
brief shortfalls across Europe, European Union states have
highlighted the need for the bloc to reduce its dependency on Russian
gas.
European nations hope that the planned Nabucco gas pipeline via
Azerbaijan and, ultimately, Turkmenistan via Turkey, will one day
pipe Turkmen natural gas westwards, easing their dependence on
Russia.
Currently, two thirds of Turkmenistan's annual output of 70
billion cubic metres of gas is sold to Russia.
The possible cooperation of Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan in
the energy sector is viewed with suspicion by Russia, media reports
said.
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