Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Turkmenistan summit – three countries as global energy center

By Trend

The Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Turkmenistan summit is being held in Turkmenistan's Avaza city on December 14, Trend reports.

The meeting participants are supposed to discuss steps to further enhance cooperation among the three countries, primarily in trade, energy, and transport.

Against the backdrop of strengthening economic and strategic relations of the Turkic states, Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan are also enhancing bilateral and trilateral cooperation. The current meeting will play a significant role in the development of this trilateral format. Implementing transport and transit potential is of particular importance for all three countries, thus turning them into a global energy center.

Joint energy, transport, infrastructure, and logistics projects expand Azerbaijan's economic opportunities. Turkmenistan has quite big gas reserves, part of which can be brought to the Turkish market through the Southern Gas Corridor.

According to experts, one of the major topics of today's meeting will be the export of Turkmen gas to European countries through Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

As Selim Han Yeniacun, Ph.D. candidate at the Global Studies Department at Shanghai University told Trend, Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan will become key actors in the new energy corridor.

He stressed that this summit is of utmost importance for transporting hydrocarbons, oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea Basin to Europe.

"The meeting plays a crucial role in satisfying European demand for oil and natural gas. Hopefully, good decisions will be made in the last days of 2022," Yeniacun added.

Furthermore, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on January 21, 2021 in Ashgabat on the joint exploration and development of the Dostlug field's hydrocarbon resources in the Caspian Sea will open up new potential amidst the global energy crisis.

The Azerbaijan-Türkiye-Turkmenistan trilateral collaboration will also contribute to the strengthening of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TITR).

The transport infrastructure recovery in Azerbaijan's liberated territories, including the opening of the Zangazur corridor, will also create new opportunities for diversifying Central Asia's transport system along the East-West route with access to international markets

In total, this summit is expected to pave the way for new initiatives in trade, energy, and transport among Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Turkmenistan.