Erdogan: ‘Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline is a regional peace project’

On Thursday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlined the benefits of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) in an article he penned for the latest issue of The Diplomat magazine.

In his article entitled TANAP: Regional Development and Peace Project, published in collaboration with The New York Times, Erdogan described TANAP as a regional peace project, describing it a solid example of the long-lasting positive relations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

“Turkey’s process of change over the last 18 years created a suitable environment for channelling energy resources from this region to Turkey and Europe,” he expressed.

Erdogan also highlighted that the world’s energy map is changing.

According to the article, Turkey has acted as a secure bridge between the source countries and the consumer markets and it will continue to do so in the future.

The aim of the TANAP Project is to bring natural gas produced from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz 2 gas field to Europe passing through Turkey.

One of the biggest energy projects in the region, TANAP was officially inaugurated in June 2018. On 20 November, 2019,  Erdoğan and his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated the project’s European link in the northwestern Turkish province of Edirne.

“TANAP is the Silk Road of energy. Besides its strong and sustainable economy, peace-oriented foreign policy and stable administration approach, Turkey also neighbours rich natural gas and oil reserves due to its geographic location. So far, Turkey has acted as a secure bridge between the source countries and the consumer markets, and it will continue to do so in the future,” Erdogan concluded.