On March 5, Türkiye and Azerbaijan inaugurated a major gas pipeline project that aims to ease the energy woes of Azerbaijani autonomous region of Nakhchivan. 

An exclave of 460,000 people, Nakhchivan is cut off from mainland Azerbaijan by an Armenian landmass. This has posed a particular challenge for Azerbaijan, one of the world’s largest gas producers, to meet the energy needs of its exclave. Up till now Nakhchivan relied on Iran for gas. 

The Igdir-Nakhchivan Natural Gas Pipeline will change that, officials and experts say. The pipeline will reroute Azerbaijani natural gas to Nakhchivan via Türkiye, which shares a narrow border with the exclave. 

“The natural gas to be supplied to Nakhchivan via Türkiye will make significant contributions to the economic development of the region,” says Dr Yunus Furuncu of Kocaeli University who carries out research on energy issues.

“A more stable and affordable energy supply will encourage the development of industry and trade, while the decrease in energy costs will increase the welfare of households.” 

The Igdir-Nakhchivan Natural Gas Pipeline spans approximately 85 kilometres, with 17 kilometres running through Türkiye and the remaining 68 kilometres in Nakhchivan. 

Türkiye’s state-owned pipeline operator BOTAS and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR are leading the project. The pipeline includes compression stations and advanced distribution networks to guarantee an uninterrupted gas flow.

The pipeline’s inauguration comes at a time when Iran has lost its influence in the region with the collapse of Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria and military setbacks suffered by Hezbollah in Lebanon at the hands of Israel. 

Simultaneously, the project ties into Türkiye’s broader vision of fostering deeper Turkic cooperation, as seen through the Organization of Turkic States, which includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. This collaboration strengthens Türkiye’s political and economic influence in the Turkic world.

Close allies Türkiye and Azerbaijan are also constructing a road that crosses Armenia and connects Baku with Nakhchivan and beyond to parts of Türkiye. 

The Igdir-Nakhchivan Natural Gas Pipeline, which has an annual capacity of 500 million cubic metres, is sufficient to meet the needs of Azerbaijani exclave for next 30 years, officials say. 

Dr Necmettin Acar, who teaches international relations at Mardin Artuklu University, emphasises that the project is not merely an economic endeavour but a strategic geopolitical response to the shifting regional balance. 

He says that for many years, Iran’s stance on the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict and Nakhchivan’s energy dependence on Iran created significant regional geopolitical tensions. 

Azerbaijan and Armenia, the two uneasy neighbours in the troubled region of Caucasus, fought a bloody war over Karabakh territory, which ended nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation in the region. Iran had backed Armenia in the conflict. 

Experts say the pipeline also aligns with Türkiye’s long-standing ambition to become a regional energy centre. 

Hosting major infrastructure projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), and the TurkStream pipeline, Türkiye has steadily positioned itself as a critical player in energy transit. The Igdir-Nakhchivan project further reinforces Türkiye’s geopolitical leverage in the region in this regard.

By integrating Nakhchivan into its energy network, Türkiye further establishes itself as a critical energy partner in the Caucasus and beyond, experts say. 

“Türkiye has been pursuing a policy of becoming a centre in energy for many years,” says Acar of Mardin Artuklu University. 

“The most important goal of this policy is to transport natural gas and oil from the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia regions, which are rich in reserves, to Türkiye via secure lines and then re-export them to European markets.” 

Acar also points out that natural gas, unlike oil, lacks a centralised global exchange or a standard pricing market, which presents a unique opportunity for Türkiye. 

“In this direction, the government has been carrying out serious work for many years to make Istanbul the centre of natural gas markets. If Türkiye can become a price-setting actor in energy trade, this will both provide economic gains and further increase the country's geopolitical importance.”