Another round of Turkmen-Turkish inter-ministerial consultations was held in Ankara, Turkey, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reports.
Turkmen Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Gurbanov met with his Turkish counterpart Burak Akçapar. “There views were exchanged on issues of the regional and international agenda“.
In terms of bilateral cooperation, particular attention was paid to the prospects for cooperation in the fields of energy and transport.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry reports that consultations were also held on regional cooperation, in particular with the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS).
Earlier it was reported that Turkmenistan, which participates in the activities of the OTS as an observer, could become a full member of the organisation this year.
Turkey is one of Turkmenistan’s largest trading partners. Some 600 Turkish companies are registered in the local market, operating in the fields of trade, construction, energy, transport, communications and textiles.
Ankara is lobbying for access to the European market for Turkmen gas. In March, a Memorandum of cooperation was signed between the state-owned Turkmengaz Concern and the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
Experts told Daryo that a 300km pipeline across the Caspian Sea would be the best way to connect Turkmenistan to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), which already carries Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey.
Two-way trade has tripled in the last four years and exceeded $2.5bn by 2023. Turkmenistan and Turkey expect to increase trade to $5bn in the near future.
Eziz Boyarov
