Azerbaijan has enough gas for its neighboring countries, as well as nations in Europe, its energy minister has said.

Amid Russia's war on Ukraine, the US and UK announced a ban on Russian oil and gas as the EU discusses plans to end reliance on Russian gas. Many wonder if Baku can boost gas supplies to help in a smoother transition.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum,​​ Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, said the country has 2.6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, which he said is "enough for its neighbors and European countries."

"The expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor project will definitely begin, and in this direction, we have started dialogue with European countries, Western Balkan countries, and other Eastern European countries," Shahbazov continued.

All these consultations will be implemented together with Turkiye, he stressed at the three-day event in the resort city of Antalya

The high-level forum has brought together participants from 75 countries, including 17 heads of state, 80 government ministers, and 39 representatives of international organizations. Anadolu Agency is the forum's global communications partner.

At the eighth Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, held in Baku last month, around 19 representatives of countries participated, he noted, the participants which included the EU Commissioner and Turkish energy minister agreed on expanding the gas corridor.

"Today, the Southern Gas Corridor project has great perspectives," he said.

"Azerbaijani natural gas is exported to Europe via Turkiye through the TANAP (Trans Anatolian Pipeline) and then the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline), which has a great capacity," he continued.

Shahbazov said Azerbaijan has enough reserves to increase TANAP from 16 billion cubic meters to 31 billion cubic meters and to double the TAP's 10 billion cubic meters.

Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP), the biggest section of the Southern Gas Corridor delivering Shah Deniz 2 gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey and onto Europe through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP), brought its first gas to Turkey on July 1, 2018.

Oil prices and OPEC+

Amid the global energy crisis after Russia launched a war on Ukraine, the Azerbaijani energy minister said the OPEC+ organization could not "solve the political events, military conflicts and some other problems in the international arena today."

"OPEC+'s tasks are a little different," Shahbazov continued.

"I think that in the next meetings, the new situation will be discussed and the necessary decisions will be taken for the regulation of the international oil markets."

Turkish-Azerbaijani energy cooperation

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Turkiye on Thursday, where he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussing bilateral ties, the Russia-Ukraine war, and energy.

As issues concerning energy were at the top of the agenda at the meeting, Shahbazov said, the two leaders discussed the Southern Gas Corridor project.

Underlining that energy would be at the center of Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, he said last year's Susha Declaration between the two countries, raising of relations between Turkiye and Azerbaijan to the level of an alliance, was an indication of this.

"Azerbaijan has an estimated $19.3 billion investment in Turkey, of which $17 billion is in energy," he said.

Zangezur corridor

Noting that Azerbaijan plans to build various projects through the Zangezur corridor, Shahbazov said it would be "important not only for Azerbaijan and Turkiye, but also for all countries of the region."

The corridor -- set to be built in the wake of last year's Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Azerbaijan liberated some 300 settlements from Armenian occupation -- is set to connect western Azerbaijan to its autonomous exclave of Nakhchivan.

Stressing that the Zangezur corridor would connect Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Armenia, Russia, and Iran, Shahbazov said it would be "connecting the West and the East."

According to him, it would not only be a logistics and transport corridor, but an energy corridor as well, adding that Zangezur would be used for electricity energy exports.

"At the same time, we have bigger plans for green energy in the future. We intend to use the corridor for these purposes as well," he said.

Shabazov also highlighted Baku's "green energy projects" for the future.

"We also have bigger plans for renewable energy in the Hazar (Caspian) Sea. In the future, Azerbaijan will be a green energy country," he said./aa

The death toll from tribal clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur region has risen to 35, according to local medics on Saturday.

In a statement, the Committee of Doctors in West Darfur said it counted 19 new fatalities from the violence in the Jebel Moon Mountains of West Darfur, taking the tally to 35 since last week.

Twenty-one persons were also injured in the clashes, the medics said.

Since November last year, hundreds of people have been killed in sporadic tribal clashes in the Jebel Moon Mountains of West Darfur./YS

France: Nearly 12,500 racist crimes were reported, and most victims were African males, according to Interior Ministry

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued into its second year in 2021, French security services saw a surge in the number of racist, xenophobic, and anti-religious offenses, the Interior Ministry highlighted in an annual report released on Friday.

The analysis of the racist offenses was prepared by the ministry’s statistical service for internal security and released ahead of March 21, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The ministry said racist crimes mainly carried out by hurling abuse, insults, provocations, and public defamation at victims belonging to African countries or those from minority backgrounds were “little reported” to security forces.

Racism is largely under-reported in France and according to the national human rights commission, it is often manifested through forms of subtle rejection, which the victims find it difficult to characterize and denounce.

Despite the pervasiveness of such crimes and the reluctance of the victims – who were identified to be mostly male African nationals – to report crimes, the study said nearly 12,500 racist crimes were registered by the police and the gendarmerie. Of these, 6,300 offenses were found to be in the high- or medium-level crime category.

The total number of incidents jumped 16% compared to 2020.

The rise in racist crimes was observed in the context of the extension of the pandemic and long periods of lockdown last year, the report said./YS

Deutsche Bank AG is in the process of pulling back from business in Russia, it has announced.

The Frankfurt-based lender joined Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan late on Friday in limiting activities and operations in Russia due to Moscow's war on Ukraine.

"Deutsche Bank has substantially reduced its Russian exposure since 2014," the German lender said in a statement.

"In line with our legal and regulatory obligations, we are in the process of winding down our remaining business in Russia while we help our non-Russian multinational clients in reducing their operations," it noted. "There won't be any new business in Russia."

At least 564 civilians have been killed and 957 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war on Feb. 24, the UN said, while indicating that conditions on the ground make it difficult to verify the true number.

More than 2.5 million people have fled to neighboring countries, with about 2 million more estimated to be displaced inside Ukraine, according to the UN refugee agency./agencies

Turkish businesses are expecting an upcoming meeting on Sunday between Turkiye's president and Greece's prime minister have a positive impact on economic relations.

Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to visit Turkiye on Sunday and hold a face-to-face meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with bilateral ties, current geopolitical developments, and the reflections of Russia's war on Ukraine at the top of the agenda.

Steps towards developing Turkiye-Greece economic relations, especially in the field of energy, will also be evaluated at the meeting.

With its new economic strategy, Turkiye has recently opened the door to foreign trade cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Armenia, marking a new era expected to have a positive impact on bilateral trade with these countries.

Levent Sadik Ahmet, the head of the Foreign Economic Relations Board's (DEIK) Turkiye-Greece Business Council said the meeting between Erdogan and Mitsotakis would be "very valuable" at this "critical time."

"Diplomatic relations between the two (countries) will increase both the courage and motivation of the business world," he added.

Ahmet also said they wanted the trade volume of the two countries, currently around $5 billion dollars, to quickly rise to $6-7 billion.

Pointing out that the products imported from Greece were mainly concentrated in petrochemicals and agriculture, Ahmet said that on the exports' side, there were products in many sectors from automotive to ready-made clothing, jewelry, machinery, cereals, and pulses.

According to data from the International Trade Center, the trade volume between two countries has fluctuated over the past decade.

Turkiye has had a trade surplus with Greece since 2019.

Their trade volume, which approached $5 billion in 2012, exceeded $6 billion in 2014 and registered at $5.3 billion in 2021.

Last year, Turkiye's exports to Greece amounted to $3.1 billion, while its imports reached $2.2 billion.

Among the sectors with the highest exports to Greece, chemicals and chemical products, steel, electric and electronics, automotive, and textiles stand out.

Approximately $7 billion of international direct investment was made by Greece in Turkiye in 2002-2021.

This corresponds to 3.9% of the total international direct investments made in the country during that period./ Yeni Safak 

After meeting with EU leaders in France on Friday, Spain’s prime minister insisted that he will do everything in his power to change the European Union's energy policy away from dependence on Russia.

“We cannot be held hostage by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s energy blackmail,” said Pedro Sanchez.

Although no major decisions were made during the informal leaders’ summit in Versailles – not on energy policy, sanctions or defense – Sanchez said he will spend the next two weeks meeting with other leaders to find unity around the question of energy.

For months, Spain has been advocating new ways to set the price of energy in the EU so it is less vulnerable to price fluctuations, which have only increased since Russia attacked Ukraine.

“We need to cut this contagion effect of gas prices on electricity,” he insisted. “We need decisions because this is an emergency situation.”

Several Spanish industrial companies have already halted production as electricity prices have soared.

Sanchez said the EU also needs to diversify its energy sources away from Russia and increase connectivity through pipelines.

Spain and Portugal are mainly disconnected from the rest of the EU in terms of energy, but Sanchez said both countries are willing to construct pipelines to France if they are paid for with EU funds and can also transport hydrogen.

During the meeting, Sanchez said the EU leaders also designed a new package of sanctions "on Putin's regime” though he gave no further details.

Likewise, he said Spain broadly supports a move towards a common EU defense and foreign policy.

On March 24 – one month since Russia launched its war in Ukraine – EU leaders are set to gather again in Brussels for a formal summit where key decisions could be made on these matters./aa