Turkey on Monday, June 13, began laying the gas pipeline at the bottom of the Black Sea off the coast of the country. The ceremony was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, TASS reports.

“We are very pleased that we have reached such a critical stage of gas production in the Black Sea. In the first quarter of 2023, 10 million cubic meters of gas will enter our national gas transmission system. We hope that the Sakarya gas field will reach peak production in 2026,” the Turkish leader said.

The head of state noted that the discovery of a gas field in the Black Sea is a historic event, carried out entirely at the expense of domestic resources.

“We view energy as a key to regional cooperation, and not as an arena for tension and confrontation,” the politician assured.

Earlier, Deputy Head of the National Energy Security Fund Alexei Grivach called Turkey’s new gas project on the Black Sea shelf ambitious. According to him, the implementation of the project will not only significantly increase Ankara’s production, but will also become a political help for Erdogan.