Azernews.Az

Turkmenistan does not see any political, economic, or financial factors hindering the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, which could make a tangible contribution to energy security in Eurasia, Azernews reports.

This was stated in a statement of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry in connection with publications in foreign media concerning the possibilities of implementing the project of Turkmen's natural gas supplies to European markets.

"The idea of building the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline initiated by Turkmenistan was initially considered by our country not just as an economically and commercially sound project, but also as an essential component of diversification of energy flows as a key condition for global energy security and sustainability on the basis of equal consideration of the interests and benefits of producers, consumers, and transit countries. By the way, all potential participants of the project agree with this," the Foreign Ministry said.

In parallel, Turkmenistan initiated a broadly interested dialogue on energy security within the UN, which resulted in the consensus adoption by the General Assembly in 2008 of the first resolution "Reliable and stable transit of energy carriers and its role in ensuring sustainable development and international cooperation," the Foreign Ministry recalled. It was co-sponsored by 71 states. In 2013, the UN General Assembly once again unanimously adopted Turkmenistan's draft of a similar resolution.

The statement stresses that Turkmenistan has made efforts to create the necessary political, financial, and organizational conditions that would allow the idea of building the Trans-Caspian Pipeline to be translated into practice. To this end, trilateral partnership mechanisms were formed between Turkmenistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the European Union, comprising the heads of the respective energy agencies.

"In general, cooperation on the construction of the Trans-Caspian Pipeline has progressed consistently and practically, receiving political and functional international support. The international legal validity of the project is also beyond doubt after the adoption in 2018 by the five littoral states of the fundamental document regulating the key principles of policy in the Caspian Sea - the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea," the statement said.

Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry cites Article 14 of this document, which states that the parties may lay cables and pipelines on the bottom of the Caspian Sea, and the determination of the route for laying submarine cables and pipelines is carried out in agreement with the party through whose seabed sector the submarine cable or pipeline is to be laid.

"Thus, as of today, the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline is directly related to the demarcation of the seabed between Turkmenistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan. In addition, Turkmenistan is convinced that there are no political, economic, or financial factors hindering the implementation of the pipeline construction. On the contrary, the Trans-Caspian pipeline is an absolutely realistic project, justified from the economic point of view, capable of making a tangible contribution to ensuring energy security in Eurasia, providing long-term and uninterrupted access to sources of raw materials for European consumers, while respecting the obvious benefits and interests of the transit party. On this basis, Turkmenistan, being committed to the strategy of diversification of energy flows, expresses its readiness to continue co-operation with partners in the implementation of the Trans-Caspian pipeline project," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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