Turkey –Greece natural gas pipeline opens

A newly-built Turkey-Greece pipeline, which will transfer natural gas from the Caspian Sea into Europe, was due to be inaugurated on November 18, 2007 by Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.

It was stated by the leaders that the project would not only contribute a lot to stability and peace but also to the welfare of the region. Turkish PM Erdogan stated that cooperation between Turkey and Greece in economy, commerce, transportation, energy and tourism had given concrete results, adding that those successes would strengthen motivation for prospective cooperation with Greece.


Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis stated that that project was a very important step for improving cooperation between two countries and stability in the region.


Greece will get energy from the pipeline for 15 years…

Natural gas pipeline which is the biggest project in economics between Turkey and Greece kicked off 2 years ago. Nevertheless, due to general elections in both countries and associated political uncertainties, the opening ceremony was postponed3 times. This project which will transfer natural gas to Greece for 15 years (250mn meter cube in the first year, 500 mn meter cube in the second and 750 mn meter cube after the third year) is the first phase of South Europe Natural Gas Line project. The South Europe Natural Gas Line foresees building a pipeline between Greece and Italy to transfer Azerbaijan natural gas to Italy and West Europe.


Western Thrace becomes energy bridge between East and West…

Halit Habipoglu, chairman of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe, commented on the new natural gas pipeline and stated that Western Thrace became a energy bridge

“Western Thrace becomes an energy bridge with this project. This project and other prospective projects will contribute to the economy of the region, accelerate the economic development of the region and welfare of the people. Additionally, this project will support economic cooperation between Turkey and Greece. An improved cooperation will serve everybody’s interest, resulting in “win-win” situation.” said Habipoglu.