Türkiye may increase the capacity of its networks for Azerbaijani gas entering the country as an alternative to Russian gas for Europe, Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said, Report informs referring to Hurriyet newspaper.
“Due to the fact that Europe has decided to no longer buy oil and gas from Russia, there are two possible alternatives to compensate for this. The first is gas coming from Azerbaijan to Türkiye. We can increase the capacity,” he said.
The second alternative is the energy resources of the Eastern Mediterranean region, he noted.
“Here, for political reasons, it was planned to bypass Türkiye and transport gas to Greece through Cyprus. However, this was abandoned because it would be too expensive. There is no third alternative. Türkiye is present in both remaining alternatives,” he added.
Kalin has previously stated that the issue of Europe’s “dependence” on Russian gas will be relevant in the next 10 years. He noted that the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), can be considered as an alternative in the short term. He also noted that connection to the corridor of different sources is possible through the territory of Türkiye.
Earlier, the European Union and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding, which provides for the expansion of the capacities of the Southern Gas Corridor.