The Anadolu Agency, the state-run news service of Türkiye, has interviewed Ambassador Ahmet Demirok, the envoy of Türkiye in Ashgabat.
Commenting on the state of relations between Türkiye and Turkmenistan, the ambassador said that Türkiye was the first to recognize the independence of Turkmenistan and the first to open embassy in Türkiye.
Demirok said that Türkiye fully supports Turkmenistan’s active neutrality policy and emphasized that the deep-rooted relations between Turkey and Turkmenistan, based on common history, language, religion and culture, are growing stronger every day on the basis of mutual respect, cooperation and common interests.
He said that Turkmenistan made great strides under the leadership of the National Leader Arkadag Berdimuhamedov and it continues on the development path under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
He said that Türkiye was one of the largest trade partners of Turkmenistan with the trade turnover in 2023 reaching USD 2.6 billion. The ambassador said that the trade volume can be increased to USD 5 billion.
The Turkish envoy said that Türkiye would be happy to see as full member of the OTS (Organization of Turkic States) and TURKPA (Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States)
Speaking of cooperation in the field of energy, the ambassador said that the two countries signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation for the Development of Cooperation in the Field of Natural Gas” and the “Declaration of Intent on Cooperation on Hydrocarbon Resources” in March this year.
He said that according to the mutual commitment, the initial volume of transfer of the Turkmen gas to Türkiye would be 2 bcm. In the long term the volumes would be raised to 15 bcm year, reaching a total of 300 bcm, he said.
Ambassador Demirok said that Türkiye and Turkmenistan were in talks for the joint production in the gas fields of Turkmenistan. Cooperation opportunities were being evaluated BOTAŞ and relevant Turkish companies and the Turkmen side, including issues of natural gas storage and distribution. /// nCa, 5 September 2024