Turkey wants to cooperate with Syria in energy and oil search
State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said that the country wanted to cooperate with Syria on energy and oil search.
Tuzmen visited Syrian Oil and Natural Resources Minister Ibrahim Haddad. Speaking at the meeting, Tuzmen said they
wanted to improve Turkey's studies on energy with the energy studies of Syria carried out in the recent period.
Pointing out that Turkey and Syria were complementary with respect to their strategic positions, Tuzmen said they
wanted to work with Syria on oil search, drilling of oil wells, services, natural gas transportation and technical
aid. Meanwhile, it was seen that Hatay province was included in Syrian borders in maps in Syrian reserve map and some
booklets.
Tuzmen said, "that is not a political map, that is a reserve map. It shows the reserves in that region. There is not
such a thing in maps of Syria after 2003. I can not engage in that small detail. My duty is to increase reciprocal
trade volume and investment."
Tuzmen stressed that Turkey was a very big country and a strong country in the region, and noted that a full peace
atmosphere in the region could be provided in case Turkey managed to apply a good model.
Stressing that poverty was the difficulty of the region, Tuzmen said, "it is not possible to prevent anything before
overcoming this poverty. Those people are our relatives."