ANKARA (AA) - Turkish PM and Justice & Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that Turkey would become an energy corridor thanks to Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and Ceyhan would become an energy 'base'.
Addressing the parliamentary group of AKP today (Tuesday), Erdogan said that BTC oil pipeline project was very important for Turkey, stating that the world showed great interest in this project.
Recalling that two third of the pipeline was on Turkish territory and it was constructed by Turkish engineers, Erdogan indicated that Turkey gained more importance strategically thanks to BTC oil pipeline.
Erdogan said that Kazakh officials noted that they wanted to be included in this project during his visit to Kazakhstan last week, stating that an agreement on this issue would be signed within one month.
Mentioning the pipeline which will transport Asian natural gas to Greece, Erdogan said that Greece Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis and himself would meet next month and lay the foundation of the pipeline.
-''TURKEY-U.S. RELATIONS CONTINUE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP''
Prime Minister Erdogan said, ''Turkey-U.S. relations, which we have attached great importance so far, continue within the scope of strategic partnership.''
Informing party members about his scheduled visit to the United States on June 6th, he said, ''Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc visited the United States and he will inform us about his visit. Meanwhile, various U.S. delegations are currently in Turkey and we continue to meet them.''
''We will take up issues like Cyprus, Iraq, Middle East as well as fight against terrorism during my visit to the United States. We will discuss common problems of our region in bilateral meetings,'' he noted.
Erdogan said that following his meetings in Washington which will last for two days, he will proceed to New York and meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. He added, ''we will focus on Cyprus issue and unjust treatment reserved to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) citizens at the meeting with Annan.''
(E֭GC-ULG)
2005-05-31