A statement released on the European Union’s official website Thursday affirmed that Europe fully supports three energy projects that are of critical importance for the realization of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline, and declared them to be « primary » projects that will make Turkey an energy base for Europe. The statement signifies a critical support for the Turkish Stream project, which is planned to carry Russian natural gas to Europe via the Turkish-Greek border. President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin decided to continue during bilateral talks at the G20 Antalya Summit. The Tesla pipeline, which will be a pillar of the Turkish Stream and reach Austria from Greece, tops the three projects that the EU has affirmed for Central and Eastern Europe. The 1,400-kilometer-long pipeline, which is expected to be completed in 2019, will carry 27 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. The line, which is said to be a « critical threshold » for the Turkish Stream, is known as an additional pipeline that will extend the Turkish Steam into Austria. It is said the Tesla pipeline will carry Russian natural gas via the Turkish Stream and Azeri natural gas via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) to Europe. The EU has also announced that it will support the TANAP, which will carry Caspian natural gas through Georgia and Turkey, and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline that will carry Azeri and Turkmen natural gas to Europe. The EU’s declaration of these projects as « primary » means Brussels has toned down its attitude, which has so far been frosty toward the Turkish Stream.
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