Fri, 29th Jun 2012 09:18 MOSCOW, June 29 (Reuters) - Gazprom on Friday sent a warning signal to its second-largest gas
consumer Turkey over Ankara's agreement with neighbouring Azerbaijan to built a gas pipeline to Europe, a rival to Moscow-backed planned South Stream trunk.
On Tuesday, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed an inter-governmental agreement on the $7-billion Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline project (TANAP), designed to carry Azeri natural gas across Turkey to Europe.
Gazprom also said it increased gas supplies to Turkey after it requested more volumes of Russian gas following a pipeline explosion, which hampered gas flow from Iran to Turkey.
But Gazprom's spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said if the Trans-Anatolian project is 'completed as planned in 2018, Turkey could then apply for help to Baku,' according to Gazprom's emailed statement.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrey Ostroukh) Keywords: GAZPROM TURKEY/
(vladimir.soldatkin@thomsonreuters.com)(+7 495 775 12 42)(Reuters Messaging: vladimir.soldatkin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
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