ANKARA - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will go to Azerbaijani capital Baku on Tuesday to attend the foundation laying ceremony of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline.
A statement of Presidential Press Center said on Monday that Sezer would be accompanied by State Minister Resat Dogru and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Zeki Cakan during his visit.
The foundation laying ceremony will be held in Sangacal terminal in Baku on September 18 with the participation of Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and the relevant ministers of the three countries.
The pipeline which will transport Azerbaijani oil to world markets is expected to cost 2.9 billion U.S. dollars. The 1,730-kilometre pipeline which will be laid from Baku to Ceyhan via Tbilisi will be able to transport 50 million tons of oil annually. It will be operational in the first quarter of 2005.
Sezer will hold bilateral meetings with Aliyev and Shevardnadze during his visit. Bilateral and regional issues and other energy projects in the Caspian Basin are expected to be taken up during Sezer's contacts.