PRESS RELEASES
United States Congratulates Turkey, Greece and Italy on Pipeline Agreement
Statement by Sean McCormack, Spokesman, US Department of State
July 26, 2007, Washington DC
The United States congratulates the Prime Ministers of Turkey, Greece, and Italy on their signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement for the Turkey-Greece-Italy Pipeline (TGI) today in Rome. This Agreement defines the commercial and legal framework for the transit of Caspian gas into the Pipeline, clearing the way for accelerated construction. This Agreement is a cornerstone of joint efforts by all three countries, with strong US and EU support, to help Europe diversify its sources of natural gas supplies from the Caspian Sea, and to promote economic development in the Caspian region. These efforts build on strong cooperation over the past decade among the United States, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to develop the South Caucasus gas pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, and expand our collaboration to include key EU partners.