ISTANBUL - The Turkish prime minister said on Wednesday that Turkey was a bridge of transportation, energy, friendship and peace.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was trying to fulfil its responsibilities as not only a bridge of transportation and energy but also a bridge of friendship and peace among civilizations.
"We will connect London to Beijing after the tube tunnel in Istanbul and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway are completed," Erdogan said during the opening ceremony of the 12th International Business Forum organized by the Independent Industrialists' & Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) in Istanbul.
Erdogan said that Turkey was situated on the transition point of energy routes, and had launched giant projects to transport rich energy resources in Asia and Central Asia to western markets.
The Turkish prime minister also said that around 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas would be transported to Europe a year after the Nabucco project was completed.
The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria.
"All these are projects connecting the East and the West, and they are steps we are taking to prevent a clash among civilizations," Erdogan said.
Also speaking about Turkey's European Union (EU) membership bid, Erdogan said that Turkey continued to fulfil reforms with determination despite obstructing or hampering attitudes of some EU member states.
"A Muslim country's becoming a full member of the EU will contribute to regional and global peace, help the East and the West understand each other better," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said that Turkey did not want clash of civilizations, and it had proved that different beliefs, religions and sects could co-exist in its territories.
(BRC-AÖ)
(ECO)