Türkiye eyes direct Turkmen gas supply via Caspian pipeline within five years

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reaffirmed his commitment to the long-discussed Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project, announcing that Türkiye will begin importing natural gas directly from Turkmenistan via a subsea pipeline across the Caspian Sea within five years.

Speaking at the Natural Resources Summit in Istanbul, Erdoğan highlighted the strategic importance of diversifying Türkiye’s energy supply routes and enhancing regional energy cooperation, Caliber.Az reports citing Turkish media.

“Since March this year, we have been supplying Turkmen gas to Türkiye through the territory of Iran,” he stated, underscoring ongoing progress in regional energy connectivity.

According to the Turkish president, approximately 250 million cubic metres of natural gas have already been delivered via the Iranian transit corridor. This volume is expected to surge to 1.3 billion cubic metres by the end of 2025, reflecting the growing scale of energy cooperation between Ankara and Ashgabat.

Erdoğan’s remarks effectively reintroduce the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline into the geopolitical and energy discourse after years of technical, legal, and political obstacles. The project, which envisions laying pipelines beneath the Caspian Sea to link Turkmenistan’s vast gas reserves directly to Azerbaijan—and onward to Türkiye and Europe—has long been seen as a key to reducing regional dependence on Russian energy supplies.

The revival of this ambitious initiative aligns with Ankara’s broader energy strategy of positioning Türkiye as a regional energy hub, connecting resource-rich Central Asia and the Caspian basin with European markets.

By Vafa Guliyeva