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Hurriyyet: Azerbaijan will cut gas supplies to Turkey if Ankara opens its borders with Armenia

03 April 2009 08:11 (UTC +04:00)

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has been informed that were Turkey to open its borders to Armenia, cooperation on energy supplies would end, the newspaper said. â€œAs a sign of how serious it is, Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia last week for long-term supply of gas at market prices. Gazprom and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan last week signed a memorandum of understanding for long-term supplies of Central Asian gas to Russia at market prices. According to Gazpromâ€™s press release, the parties committed to massive long-term cooperation after an agreement was reached March 27 to settle the terms of Azerbaijanâ€™s gas sales to Russia. Ankara and Baku have been trying to reach an agreement over the price of natural gas Turkey buys from Azerbaijan through the Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum pipeline. The agreement to buy natural gas for $120 per 1,000 cubic meters for the duration of the first year following the opening of the pipeline has long ended and the two failed to reach an agreement as Azerbaijan wants to sell its gas at international market prices, which is around $350 per 1,000 cubic metersâ€, the newspaper said.