Erdoğan declares Türkiye ready to become regional energy export hub

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared that Türkiye is no longer solely dependent on energy imports and is now positioning itself as a potential exporter, following significant domestic discoveries and strategic energy initiatives.

Speaking to journalists from his press pool, Erdoğan emphasised the dual economic and strategic importance of Türkiye's recent energy gains, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media.

“Each success we achieve in the energy field is not just an economic victory — it is also a strategic one,” Erdoğan said. “The discovery of 75 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea is the result of our intensive and well-coordinated work.”

He underscored that this breakthrough has fundamentally changed Türkiye's position in the energy landscape. “Türkiye has become not only a country that imports energy resources, but one that extracts them, and now stands as a potential exporter of energy,” he noted.

Erdoğan also referenced the vulnerabilities exposed in Europe’s energy security since the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine. “We have witnessed the condition of European Union countries in the energy sector following the Russia-Ukraine war — it is very bad,” he remarked. “To prevent a similar situation from happening to us, we are taking firm steps toward reducing our external dependence on strategic resources such as natural gas.”

Highlighting the broader impact of Türkiye’s exploration efforts, Erdoğan added that the discovery of new energy fields was elevating Türkiye’s regional role. “Thanks to these new discoveries, Türkiye is becoming one of the countries setting the direction in the energy sector in our region,” he said.

By Tamilla Hasanova