A new natural gas pipeline connecting Turkey to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave is set to become operational this week, bolstering the region's energy security, officials announced.

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the Ighdir-Nakhchivan pipeline's completion will allow for the export of natural gas to Nakhchivan.

"We are set to begin natural gas exports to Nakhchivan, following the completion of the Ighdir-Nakhchivan pipeline," Bayraktar said. "A ceremony is planned for this week, with the anticipated participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev."

The 97.5-kilometer pipeline, stretching from Turkey's eastern Ighdir province to Nakhchivan's Sadarak district, will have an initial capacity of 2 million cubic meters of gas per day, or 730 million cubic meters per year, with potential for expansion. The pipeline includes 80 kilometers in Turkey and 17.5 kilometers in Azerbaijan.

The project, operated by Azerbaijan's SOCAR and Turkey's BOTAŞ, aims to meet Nakhchivan's gas needs, which currently stand at nearly half a billion cubic meters annually.

Nakhchivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan bordered by Armenia, Iran and Turkey, has faced energy isolation due to historical conflicts and territorial disputes. The region lacks a direct land connection to mainland Azerbaijan following Soviet-era territorial changes and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Previously, Nakhchivan relied on a gas swap arrangement with Iran for its supply. The new pipeline will provide a direct and uninterrupted supply from Turkey.

The pipeline is the fourth energy link between Turkey and Azerbaijan, following the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, and the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP).

The project comes amid ongoing efforts to restore regional transport links following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. A planned Zangezur multimodal transport corridor, intended to connect Nakhchivan with western Azerbaijan, has faced delays due to Armenia's unfulfilled obligations, though construction continues on the Azerbaijani side.

The memorandum of understanding to build the Ighdir-Nakhchivan pipeline was signed in December 2020, and ground was broken in September 2023.