Turkey Formally Ratifies Turkish Stream Pipeline Deal with Russia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signed the ratification of an agreement that opens the way for Turkish Stream, a gas pipeline project pursued by Ankara and Moscow, TASS news agency reported.

On the Turkish side, the move removes all hurdles to construct the pipeline which was announced in December 2014 as a substitute to the South Stream pipeline project.

The pipeline is to be built under the Black Sea over the next three years, reaching the Turkish shore and then Greece via Turkish territory.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım is in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss formalities with Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart.

Turkish Stream is to consist of two or four pipes, each at a 15.75 billion cubic meters, thus achieving a maximum capacity equal to that of the abandoned South Stream. The number of pipes is likely to depend on whether EU countries show interest in getting supplies. 

Negotiations between Russia and Turkey, however, were set back by numerous issues, including a dispute over gas pricing and the tensions over the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber by the Turkish Air Forces.