ANKARA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday that he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed to turn Türkiye into a hub for natural gas.
"Türkiye will be a hub for natural gas. In our latest discussion, we agreed with Putin on this issue. We will set up a hub here with gas coming from Russia," Erdogan told his party members at the parliament.
Following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, many developed countries will likely encounter food and energy supply problems, but Türkiye is in a better position, said Erdogan.
"We are working to overcome the crisis with the least possible damage, and even to turn the crisis into a great opportunity for our country and nation," he noted.
Putin proposed to make Türkiye a hub for natural gas during a meeting with Erdogan in Astana last week. The proposal came at a time when the Nord Stream pipelines transporting Russia's gas to Europe were recently damaged in a series of explosions.
Following the blasts at the two Nord Stream pipelines, TurkStream, a natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Türkiye, along with limited transit flow via Ukraine, is almost the last remaining route as Russia has cut gas shipments to Europe. ■
