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BRUSSELS -- Turkish and European Union officials said Friday that they were optimistic that an agreement could be reached soon on bringing Turkey into the planned Nabucco gas pipeline project.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said after discussions in Brussels that an agreement might be reached before the end of this month, but Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said any deal was unlikely to be signed before July.
"I hope that in July there could be a signing ceremony," Erdogan, who was also in Brussels on a visit intended to breathe new life into its stalled EU accession bid, told reporters.
"We can reasonably be hopeful that we shall see a major step forward in the Nabucco project," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said at a joint news conference with Davutoglu.
Turkish backing is seen as vital for launching the pipeline, with a capacity of 31 billion cubic meters per year, by 2014 to help relieve Europe's reliance on Russian supplies by bringing in gas from Central Asia.
EU, Turkey Nearing a Nabucco Deal
29 June 2009
Reuters
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