WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- Turkey is a key partner to the United States in securing an East-West corridor for oil and natural gas, a U.S. State Department official said.
Addressing the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, European and Eurasian envoy Matt Bryza said Turkey lies at the geopolitical center of Central Asia and the Caucasus in an energy-rich environment.
Turkey in the latter part of the 20th century worked with regional leaders to develop an East-West corridor of oil and natural gas pipelines.
"And so, a new U.S.-Turkey strategic partnership was born, with energy as a centerpiece. The United States and Turkey worked together in pursuit of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline to connect Azerbaijan's oil and natural gas reserves with European and global markets," he said
The U.S. goal in the region, Bryza said, was to help emerging nations "secure their sovereignty and liberty" by establishing economic ties to European markets using Turkey as "the gateway."
The envoy called on Turkey to take the initiative by diversifying its gas sources away from the Russian energy giant Gazprom by looking to reserves in the Caspian region and in Iraq.
"Our goal is to develop a 'Southern Corridor' of energy infrastructure to transport Caspian and Iraqi oil and gas to Turkey and Europe. The Turkey-Greece-Italy (TGI) and Nabucco natural gas pipelines are key elements of the Southern Corridor," he said.
U.S. cooperation with Turkey in the energy sector serves as a cornerstone to policy initiatives in the regional community.
"As we contemplate the threats that will confront the Euro-Atlantic community in the coming decade, Turkey has emerged as an indispensable partner," Bryza concluded.
