BY DAILY SABAH WITH AGENCIES
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday blamed Europe’s energy crisis on the sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Türkiye has tried to steer a middle course between Moscow and Kyiv and has pursued intense diplomatic efforts to end the war that has killed tens of thousands and forced more than 10 million Ukrainians from their homes.
European nations are “harvesting what they sowed” by imposing economic restrictions on Russia, Erdoğan told reporters before departing for a three-nation swing through the Balkans.
“Europe’s attitude towards Mr. (Vladimir) Putin, its sanctions, brought Mr. Putin – willingly or not – to the point of saying: ‘If you do this, I will do that,’” the Turkish leader said.
“He is using all his means and weapons. Natural gas, unfortunately, is one of them.”
Türkiye has criticized Moscow’s invasion and provided Ukraine with arms, including drones, which played a significant role in deterring a Russian advance early in the conflict, while refusing to join the West in imposing sanctions on Russia – a stance it says has helped its mediation efforts reap results.
Benchmark gas prices in Europe have surged about 340% in a year and jumped as much as 35% on Monday after Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom said it would indefinitely extend a shutdown to the major Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
Europe has accused Russia of weaponizing energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military campaign in Ukraine. Russia blames those sanctions for causing gas supply problems, which it puts down to pipeline faults.
Many European power distributors have already collapsed, and some major generators could be at risk, hit by caps that limit the price rises they can pass to consumers, or caught out by hedging bets.
Erdoğan’s comments echo those expressed by the Kremlin this week.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday blamed Russia’s halt of gas deliveries to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on “sanctions that were imposed against our country.”
Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, historically supplied about a third of the gas Russia exported to Europe, although it was already running at just 20% of capacity before last week’s maintenance outage.
Türkiye increasingly relies on Russia for trade and tourism. Russian gas covers almost half of Turkish energy needs, and Russia’s atomic agency is building Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant.
Türkiye’s annual gas consumption rose from 48 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2020 to a record 60 bcm in 2021 and is expected to reach 62 bcm to 63 bcm this year, according to official figures.
Türkiye pledged to slowly transition to paying for the Russian imports with rubles at a summit between Erdoğan and Putin in Sochi last month.
Analysts believe the deal will ensure that Russia will continue to supply Türkiye with gas through the TurkStream pipeline running under the Black Sea.
Erdoğan said he did not expect Türkiye to experience any energy shortages this year.
“I think Europe will have serious issues this winter,” he said. “We do not have such a situation.”