ANKARA, May 28. /TASS/. Following Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory in Turkey’s runoff presidential polls, Moscow and Ankara will take major steps to establish a gas hub in Turkey to pump Russian gas to Europe, a Turkish expert said on Sunday.
"Relations between Turkey and Russia in the gas sector are very important. Obviously, after the acts of sabotage at Nord Stream, Turkey is the only route for gas supplies from Russia. So, it can be said that major steps will be taken both toward creating a gas center in Turkey and toward pumping Russian gas to Europe via Turkey," said Turkey’s former trade representative to Russia Aydin Sezer.
"Following Erdogan’s victory, a new era has begun in relations between Turkey and Russia and mutual interaction between the two countries will increase," he said. "Russia’s support in connection with the recent economic difficulties in Turkey was very useful for Erdogan during the election campaign."
Turkey held runoff presidential polls on May 28. According to the latest data from the Supreme Election Council after counting 99.43% of ballots, Erdogan won 52.14% of votes.
The idea of establishing a hub in Turkey to redirect the volume of gas, the transit of which is no longer possible through the Nord Stream, was advanced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russian Energy Week in October 2022. It may imply building another gas pipeline system and creating a hub in Turkey, through which gas will be supplied to third countries, primarily European ones, if they are interested, he said. Turkey took the initiative positively and said that a larger part of infrastructure for a would-be hub and a gas trade center in Istanbul is ready. The Turkish side has also initiated legislative amendments to back the gas hub projects by a legislative framework.