Turkish pm says Turkey not let anybody raise hopes for natural gas in eastern Mediterranean

LEFKOSA (A.A) - July 20, 2011 - The Turkish prime minister said on Tuesday that Turkey would not allow any party to have any expectations regarding the natural gas potential in eastern Mediterranean. 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to attend the Peace & Freedom Day celebrations, attended a TV program broadcast live by Turkey's TRT and TRNC's BRT channels Tuesday evening.
Upon a question on Turkey's growing investments in TRNC, Erdogan said Turkey aimed at transferring water to TRNC in three years and might consider building an energy line if necessary although the country had no energy problem at the moment.
Erdogan said, apart from water and energy issues, areas needing rapid improvement in TRNC were agriculture, stockbreeding and higher education.
Commenting on natural gas issue, Erdogan said some parties had certain expectations on such matter, and continued, "These expectations cannot be brought to life in the eastern Mediterranean despite Turkey's presence".
"Nobody can take such a step that excludes Turkey or TRNC in this region," the prime minister noted.
Erdogan also said TRNC currently needed to take several system-related steps and Turkish officials could particularly help the country with state planning.
Erdogan noted that TRNC needed investors and Turkey encouraged its entrepreneurs to invest in this country.
"If our hopes are for a more developed TRNC, confidence and stability are the key factors to achieve this goal," the prime minister said.
"If such a milieu is provided, investors will come here," he added.