According to the agency’s report, President Abdullah Gül had a telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday. “In accordance with the earlier understandings reached at the top and high levels, the Turkish government has made all the necessary decisions to issue permissions for geological exploration in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea for the sake of the South Stream gas pipeline project,” Gül was reported as saying to Medvedev. In response to Gül, Medvedev reportedly said the decision will facilitate the further strengthening of the strategic relations between Russia and Turkey. The two presidents also discussed the global agenda and cooperation in international organizations, according to the report.
Russia’s Kommersant daily also reported yesterday that Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız informed Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Ivanovich Sechin of Turkey’s decision “unofficially” in Milan on Monday, prior to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline by Turkey, Russia and Italy.
The South Stream project is to be built by a joint venture between Russia’s Gazprom and Italian oil group Eni. The 900-kilometer pipeline is set to eventually run from Russia to Bulgaria under the Black Sea before delivering gas to consumers in Europe. The pipeline, with an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, is planned to be operational in 2016, costing $11.6 billion.
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