- Ankara will work with Moscow to create a natural-gas hub in Turkey, Turkish President Erdoğan said.
- This comes a week after Putin of Russia offered to divert natural-gas supplies from Russia to Europe via Turkey.
- Turkish officials were shocked by Putin’s offer last week.
Russian president Vladimir Putin — whose plans to directly sell natural gas to Europe have been rebuffed — is now enlisting Turkey’s help to sell fuel to the continent instead.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan said his country will be working with Russia to create a “natural-gas hub,” Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported.
The development comes a week after Putin offered to redirect natural-gas supplies to Europe via Turkey — a proposal that Turkish officials were taken aback by the discovery.
“It’s the first time that we’ve heard it.” It is too early to make a judgment, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez told Reuters. These are issues that must be discussed.
Putin and ErdoğanPutin proposed the plan on October 14, and Erdogan responded on October 14 by stating that Turkish energy authorities would immediately start working on the proposal.
“We will create a hub here with Turkish gas coming from Russia,” Erdoğan said, per Anadolu, referring to gas coming from Russia as “Turkish gas.”
“And in his own words, Putin announced to the world that ‘Europe can get its natural gas from Turkey,” Erdoğan added to members of his AK Party in parliament on Wednesday, per Anadolu.
Turkey has held Long-term ambitions to be an energy hub.
Erdoğan’s quick endorsement of Putin’s proposal for a natural-gas hub in Turkey highlights deepening ties between Moscow and Ankara, a development that’s Be concerned about the West.
Turkey — a NATO member and a candidate country for European Union membership — has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has not sanctioned Russia or closed its airspace to the country. Russia is one Turkey’s neighbors Top trading partners.
Europe is Weaning off Russia imports natural-gasBut Putin is still trying to sell fuel to the continent
Erdoğan’s deal with Putin comes three weeks after leaks were DiscoveredThe Nord Stream pipelines are the main conduits for natural gas transport from Russia to Germany.
Both of the pipelines run beneath the Baltic Sea. damagedWith Sweden and Denmark telling the UN that the leaks had been caused by TNT in the hundreds.
The US and Germany are among countries that believe sabotage is involved, with some senior lawmakers in Germany openly Pointing the finger at Russia. Putin for his part has called the incident “International terrorism is an act.”
Russia already slowing down natural-gas exportsEurope prior to the pipeline damage. Gas supply via the two pipelines has ceased indefinitely since the leaks. Nord Steam 1 About 35% of all gas imports to the European Union were made by Germany..
Even so, Putin is keen to continue selling natural gas to Europe. Russia’s economic foundation is built on energy. It accounts for more than 80% of its GDP. One-fifth is its GDPAccordingly, cutting off energy revenue from the country would impact its war chest for war in Ukraine.
He stated last week that Russia could continue to supply the fuel via alternative routes, including the Black Sea, which borders Turkey in the South.
“We could move the lost volumes from the Nord Streams along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea region,” Putin said at an energy conference in Moscow on October 12, according to Reuters.
This would create a new route for the transport of natural-gas to to Europe via Turkey, thus “creating the largest gas hub for Europe in Turkey,” Putin said.
He also offered to send natural gas to Germany through a section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that isn’t damaged — if the EU wants it. Putin told Reuters that he is ready to supply additional volumes for the autumn-winter season.
However, the German government Flatly rejected the proposal to use Nord Stream 2 on October 12, saying “Russia is no longer a reliable energy supplier.”
Putin suggested using the Nord Stream 2 not once before. Last month he said the EU can simply turn on the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it wants more natural gas from Russia.
Nord Stream 2 was never commercially operational. Germany shelved the project days before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Construction of the pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, was completed in September 2021
Alexander Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, stated in September that Russia’s gas exports will drop by approximately 50 billion cubic metres to the EU in 2022. InterfaxAccording to a news agency, According to data from the International Energy Agency, this would amount to about one-third of the estimated 155 billion cubic metres of Russian gas that the EU imported in 2021.
