On 19 March 2025, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and CEO of Botaş Abdulvahid Fidan.
The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Türkiye noted that the proclamation of 2025 on the initiative of Turkmenistan as the “International Year of Peace and Trust” is evidence of recognition of the country’s peaceful foreign policy by the international community. At the same time, Bayraktar stressed the importance of the initiatives and valuable recommendations voiced by Arkadag in his speech at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum.
Quoting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement “One nation, two states,” the National Leader of the Turkmen people noted that Türkiye is a major trade and economic partner of the country, occupying one of the leading positions in foreign trade. He underscored the vast potential for strengthened collaboration in the energy, transport, communication, and investment sectors.
He outlined Turkmenistan’s strategy of modernizing its energy sector and diversifying export routes. This includes projects aimed at producing environmentally friendly, value-added products from hydrocarbon resources, meeting global and regional demand.
Arkadag Berdimuhamedov noted that one of the important issues is the export of Turkmen natural gas to Türkiye and further to European countries.
Currently, Turkmen natural gas is transported to Türkiye via Iran under the SWAP scheme. With the commissioning of the power plant under construction on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea, it will also be possible to export electricity across the sea to neighboring countries, including Türkiye and other countries.
The National Leader expressed Turkmenistan’s readiness to consider specific proposals from the Turkish side in the mentioned areas and other issues of mutual interest and to support its constructive initiatives. ///nCa, 20 March 2025