Turkey may exclude Israel from Blue Stream-2 project

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey is considering various options of economic sanctions against Israel, including the possibility of Israel’s exclusion from the Blue Stream-2 project, Turkish Aksam paper wrote with reference to diplomatic sources.

According to the paper, as part of possible countermeasures to recent developments in Gaza, Turkey is discussing revision of international projects implemented with Israel.

“The possibility of cancellation of the project is not considered at this stage, but it may happen if the situation worsens,” the Turkish paper wrote.

After the death of 10 people as a result of the Israeli raid on the Freedom Flotilla, including a Turkish vessel, Turkey warned Israel that the incident may lead to “irrecoverable consequences” in the bilateral relations. After the military attack, the Turkish Foreign Ministry recalled its ambassador from Israel. Besides, Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry after hundreds of people gathered at the Israeli embassy to protest against the raid.

In March 2009, Russia and Turkey agreed to establish a working group on implementation of the Blue Stream-2 project, which will provide with the opportunity to supply Russian natural gas to the Near East, Israel, etc.

Specifically, the project foresees construction of a new line in parallel with the current Black Sea pipeline – Blue Stream, through which Russian gas is supplied to Turkey.