ISTANBUL, October 3. /TASS/. Turkey will continue purchasing natural gas from Russia, despite US calls to abandon the republic's imports of Russian energy resources, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told CNN Turk television channel.
"We have agreements with Russia. The winter season is approaching," Bayraktar said. "We cannot tell our citizens that there is no gas."
"We need to receive gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan," the Turkish energy minister noted adding that Turkey imports energy resources based on its needs.
According to earlier media reports, during a meeting in Washington on September 25 between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan the American leader called on Turkey to stop buying Russian energy resources.
Bayraktar also stated that negotiations with Russia are also underway on the extension of the agreement on natural gas supplies to Turkey via the Blue Stream gas pipeline.
In January 2025, the Hurriyet newspaper reported citing data from the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), that Russia in 2024, as in 2023, retained its position as the main supplier of natural gas, oil and petroleum products to Turkey.
Russia supplies gas to Turkey via two pipelines through the Black Sea. Blue Stream was commissioned in early 2003. The design capacity of the pipeline spanning 1,213 kilometers is 16 bln cubic meters per year.
The export gas pipeline TurkStream consists of two lines, one of which is designed for delivering gas to Turkish consumers, while the second one supplies gas to southern and southeastern European countries. The total capacity of TurkStream commissioned in January 2020 amounts to 31.5 bcm, with its operation starting in January 2020.
