US supports Turkish-Israeli energy talks, says US envoy

The United States strongly supports a proposal to transport Israeli gas to Europe via Turkey with the side aim of ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East, John Bass, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara, told Anadolu Agency on Oct. 13.      

"Seeing the Israeli energy minister here today with the Turkish energy minister, talking about collaborative projects that will benefit both economies is an indicator of how energy can help promote peace and stability. We strongly support achieving those objectives," Bass told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress (WEC).

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz met with Turkish counterpart Berat Albayrak at the WEC in the first visit by an Israeli minister to Turkey since the two countries normalized their relations following the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists bringing aid to Gaza. 

The ministers' discussions focused on the possibility of transporting Israeli gas to Europe via Turkey.

Bass said he was in Istanbul for the congress in part because of the importance of energy for all.      
  
"It is a big piece of our strategic partnership with Turkey to cooperate on energy to promote economic development for both countries and to reinforce the importance of ensuring that all of our NATO allies and partners have access to a diverse set of supply and sources. We believe that is an important part of energy security," Bass said.        

"Seeing so many producing countries, consuming countries, companies involved in upstream, downstream and new technologies all present in Istanbul is a reflection of how important Turkey is to all of these issues for the next generation," said Bass.        

Following...