Ilham Aliyev attended TANAP-Europe connection opening ceremony in Turkey’s Edirne

An opening ceremony of the Europe link of the TANAP gas pipeline has been held in Ipsala settlement, Edirne province, Turkey.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony.

Prior to the ceremony, a video clip highlighting the implementation of the TANAP project, which is one of the most important segments of the Southern Gas Corridor and a key factor in ensuring the energy security of Europe, was screened.

SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez hailed the importance of the project.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the event.

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President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan then addressed the ceremony.

Underlining the importance of project in ensuring the energy security of Europe, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked President Ilham Aliyev for his leadership and supporting the implementation of TANAP which links Asia with Europe.

A ceremony to connect TANAP with TAP pipeline with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia then was held.

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TANAP is the most important link of the Southern Gas Corridor, designed to transport natural gas produced from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-2 field initially to Turkey and onwards to Europe. The section of pipeline from the Turkish border with Georgia until Eskisehir of Turkey was launched in an international opening ceremony on June 12, 2018 with the flow of commercial gas to Turkey from June 30, 2018. The final mechanical work in the pipeline between Eskisehir and the Turkish-Greek border was completed at the end of 2018 with the first test pumping held in April 2019.

The legal framework for the TANAP project was established in 2012. The final investment decision on the project was adopted on December 17, 2013. The construction work began in 2015 following the ground-breaking ceremony in Kars attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The first phase of TANAP from Turkish-Georgian border to Eskisehir was completed in June 2018. Its opening ceremony was held on June 12, 2018 and attended by the leaders of the two countries. Transportation of the first commercial gas to Turkey began on June 30, 2018. The second phase of the project from Eskisehir to Turkish-Greek border was successfully completed by the end of June 2019.

With an investment of around $7 billion, TANAP will deliver 6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas to Turkey and 10 billion to Europe per year.

The pipeline passes through 20 provinces and 67 districts of Turkey.