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Turkish, Greek PMs Inaugurate Construction of Gas Pipeline

Posted on: Monday, 4 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

Turkish, Greek PMs inaugurate construction of gas pipeline

ANKARA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis inaugurated Sunday the construction of a Turkey-Greece natural gas pipeline, the semi- official Anatolia News Agency reported.

The ground breaking ceremony was held at a bridge on the Meric river, northwest of Turkey, the report said.

The 300-km pipeline from Bursa in Turkey to Komotini in Greece is expected to be operational in 2006, and will later be extended to Italy as part of an extensive pipeline initiative known as the Southern Europe Gas Ring Project.

The pipeline is expected to carry 11.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year once connections are made to other planned pipelines.

Speaking at a joint news conference, Erdogan said the main target of Turkey's energy policies is to evaluate the limited natural sources in the best way.

"I believe this will be a step which strengthens friendship between Turkey and Greece," he was quoted as saying.

For his part, Karamanlis said the pipeline between Turkey and Greece will form the most important part of South European pipeline and will help transfer the natural resources of the Caspian Sea and the Middle East to the heart of Europe.

After the speeches of Erdogan and Karamanlis, two Greek and two Turkish children, dressed in national costumes, exchanged flags.

Later on, Karamanlis walked to the Turkish part of the Kipoi- Ipsala border bridge and shook hands with Turkish soldiers on duty. Erdogan in return walked to the Greek part of the bridge and shook hands with Greek soldiers.

Both prime ministers held a meeting of 45 minutes at the Kipoi Customs Gate in Greece.

Turkey in recent years have been trying to expand its role as an energy conduit, connecting Europe to the oil and gas riches of the Caspian and Central Asia.

In May, the presidents of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan opened a pipeline that will transport up to 1 million barrels a day of Caspian oil and gas through the southern Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Territorial disputes over the Aegean have brought NATO allies, Greece and Turkey, to the brink of war three times in the past but the situation was improved significantly when the two countries were hit by three devastating earthquakes in 1999.

After the quakes, the two governments rendered mutual assistance and agreed to establish a joint standby disaster response unit.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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