Turkish Parliamentary commission OKs deal on Turkish Stream

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

The Turkish parliament on November 29 endorsed the ratification of the Russian-Turkish agreement on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction.

The bill is expected to be voted by lawmakers at plenary session of the Parliament before Turkish Prime Minister's Binali Yildirim's visit to Russia scheduled for December 6-7.

The Turkish Stream project was announced in late 2014 by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his state visit to Turkey.

In November 2015, the project was suspended after a Russian Su-24 aircraft was downed by a Turkish F-16 fighter in Syria. A thaw in relations between Moscow and Ankara began last June following Turkey's apology to Russia.

On October 10, Moscow and Ankara signed an intergovernmental agreement, which envisions construction of two underwater legs of the gas pipeline in the Black Sea.

The annual capacity of each leg is estimated to reach 15.75 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Pipe-laying work for the Turkish Stream will begin in 2017 and end in late 2019.

The project’s total cost is estimated at €11.4 billion, with the cost of the first line amounting to €4.3 billion.