ISTANBUL, July 21. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers the project on natural gas supplies to Europe from the East Mediterranean promising and is optimistic that it will come to fruition, he told reporters accompanying him on his tour across Persian Gulf countries on July 17-19. The Turkish leader also plans to discuss the issue during the upcoming visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Ankara on July 28.

"The project on supplies of natural gas from the East Mediterranean to Europe through Turkish territory makes sense. Otherwise, pumping gas is very expensive. If it is delivered via Turkey, the country will reap a benefit from it, both regarding the issue of use and participation in the process of transportation to Europe. We are currently establishing initial contact with Netanyahu. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a warmer period in relations between Turkey and Israel," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Turkey’s TRT TV channel on Friday.

The Turkish authorities said earlier that they were in talks with Israel on the transportation of gas from the East Mediterranean to Europe as an alternative to Russian gas.