The Turkish president vowed to open a gas hub at the Russian leader’s request
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to complete a gas distribution hub to pipe Russian natural gas into Europe via Türkiye. Erdogan said that the project, first suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be built with Russian assistance.
“We will strengthen Türkiye’s position as an international hub even further,” Erdogan said in a speech on Monday. “Actually, Mr. Putin mentioned again the creation of the hub in the region of Thrace in Türkiye in his congratulatory message. We will do that together with them. There will be a hub in Thrace.”
Erdogan won a third term in office on Sunday, defeating rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff election. In a congratulatory message to Erdogan, Putin praised the Turkish president’s “personal contribution to the strengthening of friendly Russian-Turkish relations,” and hailed the construction of Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant and the creation of the gas hub as two significant joint projects.
Putin first proposed the gas hub in October, stating that Moscow could redirect gas transit from the two sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines to Türkiye, from where it could be used domestically and sold on to European consumers. The hub would be built in the Turkish region of Eastern Thrace, which already receives gas from Russia via the 930-kilometer TurkStream pipeline.
Erdogan welcomed the idea, and Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said in February that the hub could begin operating as soon as this year.
The plan has faced criticism in the West, with US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel urging European countries not to purchase Russian gas via Türkiye, and to “take steps to diversify their energy sources, to reduce energy reliance on Russia” instead. French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that the proposal “makes no sense,” given that the EU aims to wean itself off Russian energy.
Under Erdogan’s leadership, Türkiye is the only member of NATO that has not sanctioned Russia, and Ankara and Moscow have strengthened their trade and diplomatic links since the conflict in Ukraine began. Erdogan describes his foreign policy as “balanced,” and has sought to build Türkiye into a regional energy trading power and a middleman between producers in the east – such as Russia and Azerbaijan – and buyers in the West, RT reports.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his “dear friend” Recep Tayyip Erdogan last night after he triumphed in Turkey’s presidential election. Putin sends congratulations to friend Erdogan on victory, shows support for his policies
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in the second round of the presidential elections and said his re-election is a test of popular support for his policies, in a message posted on the Kremlin website.
“The victory in the elections was the logical outcome of your dedicated work as President of (Turkey), a clear demonstration of the Turkish people’s support for your efforts to consolidate state sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy,” Putin’s message read.
Erdogan’s Russian Victory, decries the globalists’ Foreign Affairs and continues:
“Erdogan has spent much of the past seven years cultivating closer ties with Russia and emulating Putin’s strategies for maintaining power. Given that Erdogan spent his initial years in office known as a moderate leader who would reign in Turkey’s generals and bring the country into Europe—and given Turkey’s position in NATO—the extent of his recent tilt toward Russia is all the more striking. Of course, Erdogan was an astute political strategist long before the current election, and his approach to power also borrows from other sources. But his reelection, against powerful odds, could mark a crucial watershed: Erdogan could now be in power for many more years to come, and the Russian president’s growing role as supporter and model may hold key insights into what Erdogan’s new mandate will mean for Turkey’s future,” Foreign Affairs concludes.
