Washington Institute Turkish Reseacrh Program Director: Nabucco can become reality if Azeri and Turkmen gas gets into it
13 July 2009 [10:39] - TODAY.AZ
“A sign act for the pipeline where is no single gas exporting country is very strange”, Soner Cagaptay, Director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute, said.
“For many years Turkey was asking for the right
to keep 15% of gas and Turkey just gave up on that. That, what I am
hearing here. The reason for 15 % request was that Turkey didn’t want
to be only a transit country but an energy hub so it could take 15 of
the gas and either use it or sell it on its own. Of course, it didn’t
work they agreed to be a transit country”, said Cagaptay commenting on
reports about solution of disagreements on gas transit from Azerbaijan
to Turkey.
He said Nabucco can become reality if Azerbaijan and
Turkmenistan participate in this project.
“I think that Nabucco can
become a reality if Azeri and Turkmen gas gets into it, unless Turkey
can secure gas from Iraq. But it makes Nabucco even more difficult to
achieve. What I hear from people is that Azerbaijani gas is not enough
to realize the Nabucco. We should understand that Nabucco is needed.
Baku-Tbilisi-Arzerum gas pipeline is for Turkey’s consumption. Nabucco
is needed to transit gas from Azerbaijan to Europe”.
Soner Cagaptay said that necessity of the agreement between many
countries was one of the factors delaying the project.
“Nabucco
requires al least 6 or 7 countries to agree. It is also requires that
Russia doesn’t disagree with Nabucco and I think neither of these
happening meaning that the European countries are not entirely agree
and Russian’s are not agree with Nabucco, and tries to take advantage
of situation by dividing all Nabucco enterprise. Plus, they were able
to secure some Azeri gas after the Georgia war. If they are taking the
Azeri gas from Nabucco then it is mean that Nabucco not going to take
place. Therefore, I think that the Russians are the biggest
beneficiaries of Nabucco not happening”.
Cagaptay said gas deal between
Azerbaijan and Russia means that Nabucco parties are not cooperating
well.
“It is a sign of emerging discourse between Turkey and
Azerbaijan, the fact that Azerbaijan and Turkey are not cooperating
well on the Nabucco. I think that it is a sign that something wrong in
the relations between the countries. There are lack of confidence and
lack of mutual cooperation. The cooperation which we saw in the 90ss is
not there anymore”.
/APA/
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