Bryza enthusiastic ahead of BTC inauguration

Speaking on Tuesday in Ankara with small a group of journalists following his talks with Foreign Ministry officials, Matt Bryza, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, focused for the most part on the energy dimension of bilateral cooperation between Turkey and the United States, which has been strengthened by a shared strategic vision document released in Washington last week during a meeting between Foreign Minister Abdullah G?l and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Turkey will host an official ceremony tomorrow inaugurating oil shipments to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, the last stop of the U.S.-backed BTC oil pipeline, called the "project of the century".

"We want Turkey to be a constructive, positive power in the Caucasus region," Bryza said, noting that the BTC project, which is a product of visionary thinking, would help make this happen.

"Our goal is increasing the efficiency of the European energy market, which is not working well at the moment. Commercial competition is needed," he added, bringing to mind remarks by Rice during her visit to the Turkish and Greek capitals this past spring.

In April, Rice warned both Athens and Ankara against allowing Russia to establish a monopoly over Europe's supply of natural gas, implicitly bolstering the BTC project, which would weaken Russia's tight grip on the European energy supply.

"We don't want a confrontation with Russia on the energy issue, but we would like to have competition, which would be in the interests of both sides, contrary to the current situation," Bryza said.

"It's quite clear that one of the concerns is that there could be a monopoly of supply from one source only, from Russia," Rice was quoted at the time as telling reporters in Athens.

U.S. officials have made the case to European officials that using the link to Azerbaijan would also improve relations with Turkey, which is eager for membership in the European Union, saying that the pipeline would also traverse Georgia, helping a country that has angered the Russian government by resisting Kremlin influence and turning toward the West.

/www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/