Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar announced that his country has "great cooperation potential" with Iraq in the energy sector. The Turkish Minister of Energy said in a press interview today in Ankara: There are currently three joint projects with Iraq in the energy sector aimed at making Turkey "more efficient and active" in investing in the oil and natural gas sector. Bayraktar added: Turkey can play a greater role in oil trade and transportation, as well as playing an "important role" in transforming the development road project into an energy road as well. He pointed out that the "Development Road" project is a land and railway road extending from Iraq to Turkey and its ports, with a length of 1,200 kilometers inside Iraq, and aims to transport goods between Europe and the Gulf countries. Bayraktar stated that "it is beneficial for Iraq to have an alternative and an opportunity to diversify the methods of transporting oil to global markets via the Turkish port of Ceyh an to the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to the port of Basra." He added: "There are no technical obstacles to this, nor any commercial obstacles, and therefore a serious political will must be shown for further cooperation. Source: National Iraqi News Agency