The agreement was signed by Energy Minister of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and Energy and Natural Resources Minister of Turkey Fatih Dönmez.

"With this victory, a region where projects are spoken instead of a geography where there are wars and invasions has emerged. The Turkish-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline is also a freedom project of this victory. This project will revive the economy of Nakhchivan," said Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez during his speech at the signing ceremony in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.

Speaking about the Memorandum of Understanding, Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov stressed the strategic importance of the natural gas supply to Nakhchivan: "The document drafted today provides a basis for the gas supply through pipeline from Turkey to Nakhchivan." It guarantees the cooperation of the companies of both countries – SOCAR and BOTAS in technical, commercial, administrative, legal and other issues related to the supply of natural gas. The gas supply from Turkey to Nakhchivan will diversify the gas supply and increase the reliability of energy security. Nakhchivan by receiving support from both Iran and Turkey, will be able to fully meet the growing energy demand.” 

After the signing ceremony, a press conference was held with the participation of ministers. The questions of journalists about the safety of energy projects, especially oil and gas pipelines and the TAP pipeline were answered.

Within the visit, a bilateral meeting was held between the delegations led by Azerbaijani and Turkish energy ministers Parviz Shahbazov and Fatih Dönmez. At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the importance of a new pipeline to be built to ensure the energy security of Nakhchivan, and prospects for future cooperation in the energy sector were considered.

Minister Parviz Shahbazov also spoke about exemplary energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey and the benefits of energy projects for everyone. He said that up to now, about 424 million tons of oil has been transported to Turkey and world markets via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline only from Azerbaijan, and more than 76 billion cubic meters of gas has been transported to Turkey via the gas pipelines. The volume of gas transported through TANAP to Turkey has been more than 8.2 billion cubic meters since July 2018 up to now. So far, Turkey's investment in the Azerbaijani economy of 14 billion dollars, and Azerbaijan's investment in Turkey of more than 18 billion dollars has been considered as a more successful example of high relations between the two countries.

Parviz Shahbazov visited the Kalyon Solar Technologies Factory and the Dispatch Center of the Turkish company TEIAS. (ILKHA)