Ankara plans to stay committed to its long-term energy-supply deal with Tehran despite Washingtons threats to punish countries that do business with Iran, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
“We need to be realistic… Am I supposed to let people freeze in winter?… Nobody should be offended. How can I heat my peoples homes if we stop purchasing Irans natural gas?” Erdogan said in an exclusive interview with Reuters.
He said that there were similar situations with Iranian gas imports during the presidency of Barack Obama. At the moment, Turkey is buying 50 percent of its gas from Russia, with the rest imported from Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Algeria.
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The Turkish president explained that, in terms of energy supplies, the country “will act in accordance with internal needs.”
Turkey gets 40 percent of its electricity from natural gas. It is dependent on imports for almost all of its energy needs and Iran is a key supplier of Ankaras natural gas and oil purchases. According to Turkeys Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, the countrys natural gas contract expires in 2026. Under the agreement, Ankara is set to buy 9.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Tehran.
The US has re-imposed sanctions against Iran after unilaterally withdrawing from the international agreement reached in 2015, which curtailed the countrys nuclear program. The new round of sanctions against Irans oil industry is expected to come into force on November 4. The White House also threatened secondary sanctions on any countries or companies that conduct transactions with Iran.
READ MORE: Russia, Turkey & Iran speeding up efforts to drop US dollar from trade – official
So far, the tough measures have reportedly forced Japanese refiners to stop buying Iranian crude. Chinas oil imports from Iran reportedly plunged by around 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August compared to a month earlier, though Beijing signaled its intent to keep buying. At the same time, Indias imports dropped by 400,000 bpd.
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