Caspian Awards were presented
The Caspian Forum was realized with the participation of statesmen, academicians, and businessmen from all over the world. At the night of the Forum, the winners of the Caspian Statesman, Sports, Art, Scholar and Best Project of the Year awards were announced. Caspian Statesman of the Year Award was granted to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Caspian Forum, organized by Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN).
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ accepted the award on behalf of Prime Minister Erdoğan
Bekir Bozdağ, The Deputy Prime Minister, Taner Yıldız, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, the Governor of Istanbul attended the awards ceremony. Haldun Yavaş presented the Caspian Statesman Award to the Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on behalf of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Mr. Bozdağ noted there was a new economic process in the world and also security and peace issues gained prominence in Eurasia as part of the Caspian Region. Having reminded the projects such as TANAP and BTC, Mr. Bozdağ underlined that gas from the Caspian Region would be transferred to Turkey and then to Europe via TANAP and BTC pipelines. He mentioned the importance of removing the emerging risks and creating cooperation opportunities within this context. Mr. Bozdağ said that “One of the most significant aspects of our relations with the Caspian Region is to create cooperation in the field of energy. In terms of Turkey’s increasing need for energy, Caspian Basin has importance with its rich oil and gas resources. It is a natural bridge which transfers the energy to Europe. We are following the win-win principle.”
The relations with the Caspian Region need to be improved immediately.
Secretary General of the Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN), Haldun Yavaş emphasized on how things have changed immensely in the past 20 years and the Caspian Region has taken world stage. Mr. Yavaş stated that “Unfortunately, Turkish foreign policy hasn’t reached to the expected value. The relations with the Caspian Region need to be improved immediately. The energy roads should be increased and there is a need for strategic agreements in the fields of transportation and security. The recognition of Turkey in the region should be well analyzed. Therefore, we must get reacquainted and understand each other. The increase of positive perception will result the augmentation of cooperation and tourism.
Caspian Best Project of the Year goes to TANAP
The winner of the Caspian Best Project of the Year is TANAP. The awards were presented to Mr. Taner Yıldız, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkiye and Mr. Rövnag Abdullayev, the President of SOCAR by Mr. Mesut Ülker, Board Member of HASEN and Mr. İlker Aycı, the president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey.
Caspian Art Award goes to Ms. Anjelika Akbar and Caspian Sports Award goes to Ms. Nazmiye Muslu
“Caspian Art Award” was presented to art envoy of the region Ms. Anjelika Akbar by Serdar Çam, the President of Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency. Also, Mariam Valishvili, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources presented Caspian Sports Award to Nazmiye Muslu, the champion of London Paralympic Games in the category of weightlifting. Moreover, Caspian Scholar Award was given to Dr. Svante Cornell by the President of Caucasus University Association, Prof. Dr. Ramazan Korkmaz.
