Turkey and Russia signed a deal here Thursday to allow the planned Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline to go through Turkey's Black Sea waters, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after they signed a deal to allow the planned Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline to go through Turkey's Black Sea waters in Ankara, capital of Turkey, August 6, 2009. Russian Prime Minister Putin was in Ankara for a one-day working visit. [Xinhua/Anatolia News Agency]

Inked by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who is in the Turkish capital of Ankara for a one-day working visit, the agreement is viewed as an attempt of Russia to compete with the European-supported Nabucco gas pipeline and weaken Europe's efforts to diversify its energy sources.

According to the agreement, Turkey permitted Russia to carry out feasibility studies to pass the South Stream pipeline through Turkey's exclusive economic zone.

The South Stream pipeline is designed to carry natural gas from the Russian coast through the Black Sea to Europe. Russia has been seeking Turkey's support for the project so that the pipeline could go through Turkey's territorial waters under the Black Sea instead of crossing Ukraine's waters.

In the past three years, Russia has seen gas price disputes with Ukraine, which lead to disruptions of its gas supplies to some European countries.

"Cooperation in energy is important for bilateral economic relations. We wish to maintain relations in energy sector by mutual understanding and on the basis of mutual confidence," Erdogan was quoted as saying.

Being planned to carry 63 billion cubic meters of gas annually and expected to be completed by 2015, the South Stream pipeline is viewed as a rival to the European Union-backed Nabucco Project, which envisages transporting gas from the Caspian region and central Asia to Europe via Turkey without going through Russia.

Backed by the EU and the United States, the Nabucco is aimed at reducing Europe's energy reliance on Russia, the supplier of about a quarter of the gas consumed in Europe.

The Nabucco pipeline will ultimately be able to pump 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year by 2020, or about five to ten percent of the total gas consumption of the EU by that time.

However, Erdogan said the two projects presented diversity instead of rivalry, noting that Europe's energy demand would outgrow the supplies by those projects in the near future.

In what seems to be a move to woo Turkey, Russia promised Thursday to support a crude oil pipeline planned by the Turkish government that would run from the Black Sea coastal city Samsun to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

Turkey attached importance to Russia's participation in the Samsun-Ceyhan project, said Erdogan.

According to Erdogan, Thursday's natural gas deal would also enable Turkey to extend its right to purchase Russian oil beyond 2011, when the current purchase agreement expires.

Twelve protocols were signed Thursday between the Turkish and Russian governments, covering cooperation on various issues, such as peaceful use of nuclear power, early warning of nuclear accidents, customs transactions and cultural exchange programs, said the report.

Turkey also wants Russia's cooperation on its first nuclear power plant which is being planned. Russia's Atomstroiexport and its partners Inter RAO and Turkey's Park Teknik were the sole bidders for the plant.

At Thursday's signing ceremony, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was also present.

The South Stream pipeline will be built by a joint venture of Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom and Italian oil group Eni. Eni is also partnering with Turkish company Calik Enerji to build the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline.

Erdogan said he, Putin and Berlusconi held a tripartite meeting Thursday, adding that Italy and Turkey had an intensive relation in energy sector, according to the report.

Turkey-Russia ties priority

One of the priorities of Turkish foreign policy was to strengthen ties with Russia, Erdogan was quoted as saying, noting that Turkey and Russia hold similar views about regional and international matters.

According to him, Turkey and Russia would organize a high-level intergovernmental meeting to coordinate multidimensional strategic cooperation, with the first meeting to take place in Russia in the beginning of 2010.

With the South Stream deal, Turkey will become an energy transit center throughout Europe, Putin said, noting that the South Stream project is important for Europe's energy security.

Turkey and Russia's bilateral trade volume reached 40 billion U.S. dollars last year. Russia was Turkey's top trade partner while Turkey was Russia's number five trade partner.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2009)