ISTANBUL
No intervention in Syria will result in more regional instability, warns Turkish President Abdullah Gul Thursday at the opening of a global energy summit in Istanbul.
“As we experienced in Syria, a conflict within a state affects not only that state, but the region as a whole,” said Gul in his speech marking the opening of the Atlantic Council Energy and Economic Summit, in Istanbul.
He stated that energy security, diversity and price are a matter of national security. He said Turkey has tried to secure its energy resources by signing various agreements including the TANAP deal with Azerbaijan (the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan through Turkey to Europe).
He pointed that those efforts are also essential for Europe’s energy security, prosperity and stability.
“Although Turkey contributes a lot in that area, we could not start negotiating energy chapter with the European Union,” he criticized, and added that it is the EU’s responsibility to overcome this contradiction.
President Gul also emphasized that nations will depend upon fossil fuel and nuclear energy to meet their energy needs although “unconventional ways” such as shale gas have appeared. “That’s why the Middle East, Russia, Caucasia, the Central Asia and OPEC member-nations will keep being important energy suppliers.”
This annual gathering draws together countries in the Black Sea and Caspian regions, Middle East, Balkans, elsewhere in Europe, the United States, and the world. The Atlantic Council Energy & Economic Summit provides unique opportunities for developing new relationships.
The summit hosts more than 350 regional ministers, CEOs, and other top-level leaders from more than 40 countries, while more than 200 press representatives report widely on the event in regional and global media.
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