Berat Albayrak

Developed countries are using environmentalism as a tool to prevent developing countries from progressing, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said. 

Turkey does not foresee a delay in the scheduled timetable for the TurkStream natural gas pipeline project between Russia and Turkey under the Black Sea, Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said on Oct. 26.

"There is a plan to start construction in 2017 and to complete by 2019. We don't foresee any delay for its completion," Albayrak told Anadolu Agency.

The recent week-long World Energy Congress in Istanbul had two major bookends. On the very first day, Turkey and Russia signed the much-awaited the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline agreement and announced that they would deepen energy cooperation.

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.      

Turkey has one official and one shadow prime minister, the head of the main opposition has said, declaring Binali Yıldırım to be the former and Energy Minister Berat Albayrak - who is also the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - to be the latter. 

Russia and Turkey have signed an intergovernmental agreement to build the Turkish Stream pipeline, Anadolu Agency reports.

The move coincides with a visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country's Energy Minister to Turkey.

Energy projects will offer a solution to disputes, the elimination of terrorism and foster global peace in the Middle East as long as the countries share these values for the better-justified partition of resources, Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said on Oct. 10.        

An Israeli minister is set to visit Turkey on Oct. 13, the first ministerial level meeting since relations came to a halt in 2010 after Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. 

Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz is expected to visit Turkey on Oct. 13, the Israeli Embassy in Ankara said in a written statement on Oct. 10. 

A senior Israeli government minister is due to visit Turkey this week in the first such trip since the the two countries normalized relations after a six-year crisis over Israel's deadly storming of a Gaza-bound ship, an official said.

The 23rd World Energy Congress 2016, which will bring together more than 10,000 participants from 85 countries, including 250 ministers and top decision-makers in energy, started in Istanbul on Oct. 9.