Expert: Planned gas hub in Turkey should contain Russian, Azerbaijani & Turkmen fuel oil

By Azernews

By Fatima Hasanova

Europe's need for gas in the long term is obvious, Azernews reports per TASS, quoting Ugur Yasin Asal, head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations of Istanbul Technical University.

Ugur Yasin Asal said that the planned construction of an international gas hub in Turkiye will be profitable if it takes gas to Europe, not only from Russia but also from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, the report adds.

"Europe's need for gas in the medium and long term is obvious. Building a distribution center in Turkiye just for the sake of Russian gas will not be enough. It should be a strategic priority for Turkiye to combine in this center gas that comes from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and their joint supplies to Europe. Europe needs this and is looking for alternative gas routes," said the expert.

Last week at the Russian Energy Week forum, President Vladimir Putin came up with the idea of creating the largest European gas hub in Turkiye, where the volume designed for the Nord Stream can be redirected. According to him, the matter concerns the possibility of building another gas pipeline system and creating a hub in Turkiye through which the blue fuel will be supplied to third countries, primarily European, if they are interested in it.

Discussions on the creation of a gas hub in Turkiye were held on October 13 in Astana, Kazakhstan, between the presidents of Russia and Turkiye. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the construction of the center is planned to begin in the near future and the most suitable place for it is Thrace region in the European part of Turkiye.