President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday launched a pipeline that will carry natural gas to the Nakhchivan enclave, the latest example of broader energy cooperation between Ankara and Baku.
The foundation for the new link that runs from Türkiye's eastern province of Iğdır to Sederek in western Azerbaijan was laid by Erdoğan and Aliyev in late September 2023.
The Iğdır-Nakhchivan pipeline "will complete previous energy sector strategic initiatives between Türkiye and Azerbaijan," Erdoğan told a ceremony in Ankara.
"Today, we are realizing a project for our countries that will guarantee Nakhchivan's energy security for a long time," he noted.
For his part, Aliyev said oil and gas pipeline projects have not only united Türkiye and Azerbaijan but also changed the energy map of Eurasia.
During their talks in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, the two leaders are also expected to discuss bilateral ties, regional and global developments.
The 85-kilometer (53-mile) Iğdır-Nakhchivan link is said to have an annual capacity of 500 million cubic meters (mcm) and a daily capacity of 1.5 mcm.
The project was realized through a partnership between Türkiye's crude oil and natural gas pipeline trading company BOTAŞ and Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR.
Nakhchivan is a strategic territory that does not share a border with Azerbaijan but has been tied to Baku since the 1920s – and is located between Armenia, Türkiye and Iran.
The Iğdır-Nakhchivan pipeline marks the third joint natural gas project between Türkiye and Azerbaijan, following the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Natural Gas Pipeline and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP).
Erdoğan said Ankara and Baku are determined to jointly implement all kinds of projects for regional peace, prosperity and stability.
Türkiye and Azerbaijan are on the side of "peace, tranquility, and prosperity," he noted. "We only want peace in our region. We want cooperation and to advance together."
Aliyev said the unity between Ankara and Baku is a great contribution to the Turkic world, praising Erdoğan for his role in bringing together Turkic-speaking nations.
Separately, a decree approving a cooperation agreement between Türkiye and Azerbaijan in the natural gas sector was published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.
The deal was signed by Bayraktar and Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov in mid-May last year. The agreement further strengthens the partnership between the two countries in the energy sector.
The deal will allow for additional volumes of Azerbaijan's gas from the Caspian region to Türkiye by 2030, with a portion of it being forwarded to Europe. To facilitate this, the two countries will expand the capacities of TANAP and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline.