Türkiye's gas hub to increase its dependence on Russia, says presidential candidate

Turkish opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has stated that the implementation of a gas hub project with Russia in Türkiye would increase the country's dependence on Russian energy resources.

Kilicdaroglu has clarified that he has "no objection to good relations with Moscow", Kommersant reports.

He noted that the technological infrastructure of some areas of Türkiye's economy was created with Russia's support.

"And if now Türkiye is 30-40 per cent dependent on it for energy carriers, with the implementation of the hub project this dependence will grow by 70-80 per cent and then this dependence will be complete," Kilicdaroglu added.

He added that, as an alternative, gas could be delivered to Europe via the Eastern Mediterranean. In his opinion, this would reduce the cost of gas.

Türkiye is supplying gas from Russia through the TurkStream pipeline, which directly connects the Russian largest gas reserves to the Turkish gas transportation network. Thus, it provides reliable energy to Türkiye, South and Southeast Europe.

The offshore component of the system consists of two parallel lines running through the Black Sea. The pipelines enter the water on the Russian coast and come ashore on the Turkish coast in the Thrace region.

From the receiving terminal in Türkiye, one of the two underground onshore pipelines connects to the existing Turkish gas network at Luleburgaz. The other pipeline continues to the Turkish-European border, where it ends.