The new gas pipeline which may replace the South Stream gas pipeline may be called “Turkish Stream”, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan, as cited by RIA Novosti, announced Wednesday that the name had been proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The plans for the Russian-Turkish project were presented after a meeting between Putin and Erdogan on December 1.

Speaking at a press conference after the talks, Putin made clear that Russia was suspending the South Stream gas pipeline.

The new pipeline is to cross the Black Sea seabed, bringing gas from Russia to Europe via a gas distribution hub on the Turkey-Greece border.

It is to have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters.

Erdogan made clear that the implementation of the gas pipeline project would allow Turkey and Europe to get as much gas as they need, while Turkey would become a regional energy hub.

At the same time, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that the priority project for the country was the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which was part of the EU-backed Southern Gas Corridor.

He said that the proposal of Putin for an alternative route via Turkey would be taken into consideration, stressing that the TANAP remained the top-priority project for Turkey.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey would come up with a final answer on the project scheduled to replace the South Stream gas pipeline after holding discussions on the matter.

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