'Ankara ready to do its part to bring Turkmen gas to Europe'

Highlighting close ties with Turkmenistan in various fields, including energy, Turkey's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Ankara is ready to do its part to bring Turkmenistan's natural gas through Turkish soil to Europe.

"Our economic relations [with Turkmenistan] are gradually increasing, our trade volume is expanding despite the [COVID-19] pandemic," Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference with his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov in the capital Ankara.

Mentioning that the two countries have ties on regional issues as well as energy and transportation, he noted that the cooperation in the fields will be enhanced.

Turkey and Turkmenistan will soon further strengthen their close cooperation on security, Cavusoglu added.

"We are pleased with the agreement reached between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea," he said.

For his part, Meredov said they held a fruitful meeting and discussed strengthening bilateral relations.

"We have worked on a roadmap of our cooperation," he noted, saying they also discussed the ties in fields of culture, education, science, and health.

The two countries have high-level relations on trade and economy, Meredov said, adding that the trade volume between Turkey and Turkmenistan amounted to $2 billion in 2020, which is "not bad, considering the pandemic conditions."