Finance Minister: Turkey Will Become Energy Station With B.T.C. Project

ISTANBUL - Turkish Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said on Thursday that Turkey, in the middle of Eurasian countries, was a bridge between consumer and producer countries, noting, ''Turkey is going to become an energy station of those countries with Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project.''
Delivering a speech at the seventh Eurasian Economy Summit organized by Marmara Group Foundation, Unakitan noted that all countries attached great importance to energy. ''Turkey is a country which imports energy. It is paying over 10 billion U.S. dollars for energy,'' he said.
Noting that relations between Turkey and Eurasian countries were very important, he said that's why those relations should be further developed. He stressed that the region should be turned into a region of peace.
Unakitan said that Turkey's accession to the European Union (EU) was an advantage for the region, adding that a stable and EU member Turkey would better perform its function as an energy station between consumer and producer countries.
(EÖ-AÖ) 02.09.2004