Energy Minister: justification of not opening the energy chapter to negotiations based on political reasons

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner YILDIZ said Thursday that the justification of not opening the energy chapter to negotiations based on political reasons saddened them.

Speaking at a quartet meeting with Turkey’s European Union (EU) Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, European Commissioner for enlargement Stefan Fule and Commissioner for energy Guenter Ottinger in Istanbul, YILDIZ said that “Turkey did everything it had to do.

The fact that Shah Deniz 2 project was signed implies opening up the path to carry natural gas to EU member countries. Up until now, Turkey has assumed a positive mode and will continue its positive approach”.

We want our meeting to generate a solid result. Turkey, by utilizing its advantages stemming from its geography, continues its works in practice related to the supply of natural gas and electricity to the EU members, YILDIZ said.

Reaching energy is a human right. We do not foresee the opening up of the energy chapter to negotiations as a precondition as we meet EU’s energy needs, YILDIZ noted.

With this fact, the justification of not opening the energy chapter to negotiations based on political reasons saddens us. The talks to be held here will be related to solving this problem.

Turkey fulfills its duties as much as it can. The signing of the Shah Deniz 2 agreement implies opening up the way for natural gas transfer to EU countries. Up until today, Turkey has remained in a positive mode and will continue its positive stance. The most solid agreement in this region was the Shah Deniz 2 project related to the production of natural gas, Yildiz underlined.

Turkey continues to liberalize the natural gas market. A month ago, Turkey decided to transfer the contract for 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the private sector. These are important developments for the liberalization and competition of the market, Yildiz stressed.

The structuring in the energy sector is crucial for interconnection between Turkey and the EU. Turkey has the second biggest electricity network in Europe and is approaching the interconnection in the north of Mediterranean region. At the same time, the south of the Mediterranean will be subject to such an effort, Yildiz said.

Turkey has assumed a plan that involves eight countries from Syria to Libya. All of these technical issues sometimes have made energy a burden to international politics and vice versa. We believe that we can lift the mutual burdens and reach a compromise. We go on our path. We are about to complete our works in the kitchen. It would be right to conclude our efforts with a proper energy heading, Yildiz noted.

Following the remarks made to the media, the quartet meeting continued behind closed doors.

10.02.2012
SOURCE: CUMHURIYET ENGLISH