President Erdogan Calls Turkey Will Make International Hubs To SUPPly Russian Gas To Europe

President Erdogan and President Putin at the launch of Turktream. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

AKARTA - Turkey will make an international hub so that gas from Russia can be supplied to Europe, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday at a meeting of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) factions he leads.

"Turkey will be the center of natural gas as well. In our last meeting, we agreed with (Preside Russia Vladimir) Putin on this issue. We will set up a center here with Turkish gas originating from Russia," President Erdogan said. October 19.

President Erdogan further said concerns were rising in Western countries facing an energy crisis, while Turkey was not experiencing the problem.

"In Europe they are now dealing with questions about how to stay warm in the coming winter. We have agreed with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to create a gas center in our country, he said, it could be sent to Europe. So, Europe will order gas from Turkey," President Erdogan quoted TASS as saying.

Speaking at the Russian Energy Week forum last week, President Putin proposed setting up the largest gas center in Europe in Turkey, diverting gas volume, whose transit is no longer possible via the Nord Stream, to this hub.

According to him, that may mean building another gas pipeline and making a hub in Turkey, where gas will be supplied to third countries, especially Europe, if they are interested.

Construction of a gas center in Turkey was discussed on October 13 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan at talks between the Russian and Turkish presidents.

President Putin has come up with the idea of exporting more gas, through a Turk Stream gas pipeline flowing under the Black Sea to Turkey, touting the country as the best route to switch gas supplies to the European Union after the Nord Stream pipeline leaked.

President Erdogan previously said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to pinpoint the best location for potential gas distribution centers, adding Turkey'sSUrge region, which borders Greece and Bulgaria, appears to be the best place.

It is known, officially launched in January 2020, Turkstream brought natural gas from Russia to Turkey. The pipeline has an annual capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters, consisting of two offshore lanes of 930 kilometers (577 miles), as well as two separate land routes along 142 and 70 kilometers.