Turkish foreign minister meets US counterpart in Istanbul

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met on Sunday in Istanbul.

The two diplomats discussed war-torn Syria, the fight against terrorism as well as the Qatar crisis at the Prime Ministry Office in Istanbul, according to diplomatic sources.

The ongoing crisis in inter-Arab relations climaxed on June 5, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen all abruptly cut diplomatic relations with Doha, accusing it of meddling in their domestic affairs and supporting terrorist groups.

Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil CEO, arrived in Istanbul to receive a lifetime achievement award, the Dewhurst Award, at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC), which is being held in Istanbul between July 9-13.

Four-day congress will feature Turkish President Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Minister of Oil of Bahrain Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Dubbed as the "Olympics of Petroleum", the triennial congress, which will be held in Istanbul for the first time, will gather top managers of the leading oil and gas companies.

According to the WPC's website, 20,000 participants, 5,000 decision-makers, and 50 ministers from over 100 countries will attend the congress.

A reliable partner for energy projects

Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Berat Albayrak at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress said that Turkey is a reliable partner for energy projects.

"We will support regional infrastructure projects as long as they contribute to regional peace and stability, multilateral welfare and security of supply."

"More than 2.7 billion barrels of oil have been transported through Ceyhan port in the last 12 years. Despite the instability and humanitarian crisis in our neighbouring countries, we were able to complete most of the construction of TANAP, and it's already ahead of the schedule. By the second half of 2018, TANAP will be a new source of gas for Turkey and EU gas markets," he added.

The Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Project (TANAP) is the natural gas pipeline project that will carry natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey.

The minister also spoke on the Turkish Stream project which will carry gas from Russia and is expected to supply the Turkish market with a second line carrying gas to Europe.

"Turkish Stream can also be considered one of those mutually or multilateral beneficial projects. It will be key to supply all segments of our Thrace region which has the highest consumption in Turkey, as well as diversifying roots for the EU. We developed collaboration with our neighbours to build up dialogue and to take real steps for cooperation."

"In this sense, Turkey, is a key, not only as a strong economy, and a safe harbour for investments but also as a diplomatically significant regional reliable actor," minister added.