The sun-parched west Anatolian plain is not the likeliest of settings for the realization of a 20-year-old plan for a gas pipeline linking the gas-rich countries of the Caspian with European markets.

But it was here that the presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan formally commissioned the first delivery stage of the 1,850-kilometer (1,149-mile) Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) — in the process realizing the European Union's long-held dream of the Southern Gas Corridor.

A dedicated pipeline link connecting the gas-rich states of the Caspian basin with the gas-hungry markets of Western Europe provides much-needed competition to the Russian gas on which the continent is increasingly dependent.

At full capacity, TANAP — which is being developed by a consortium led by Azerbaijan state oil company Socar together with Turkey's state gas importer Botas and UK oil giant BP — will deliver 31 billion cubic meters of gas per year (cu m/yr) to consumers in Turkey and across Europe, making Azerbaijan one of Europe’s main gas suppliers and Turkey a major transit route.