Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.7 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /
Implementation of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline project (TANAP) jointly with Azerbaijan is the most important and strategic step for Turkey in the energy sector, Ihlas news agency quotes Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Wednesday.
"Azerbaijan's energy resources and Turkey's geographical situation united in the TANAP project and strengthened our trade capacity," Davutoglu said.
He said that most of the foreign investments in Azerbaijan accounts for Turkey. At the same time, Azerbaijan's investments in Turkey increased by 80 percent in recent years.
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey over the last five years has increased by five times.
According to Davutoglu, Azerbaijan and Turkey have very strong relationship, and any crisis in the relationship is out of the question.
At present, Turkish BOTAS owns a 20-percent share in TANAP, while SOCAR owns a 80-percent stake.
SOCAR intends to retain 51 percent of its share in TANAP. Turkey will own 20 percent of the equity
TANAP project envisages construction of a gas pipeline from Turkey's eastern border to the western border to transport gas from Azerbaijan's offshore field "Shah Deniz" to Europe.
On June 26, 2012, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on TANAP implementation.
The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 16 billion cubic meters. Some 6 billion cubic meters of the volume will be supplied to Turkey, while the rest will be transported to Europe.