Turkey has been engaging in deals with Qatar, Azerbaijan and Northern Iraq to minimize energy dependency on Russia, Turkish Economy Minister Mustafa Elitaş announced.
Azerbaijan decided to make a 40-percent discount on energy transfer costs for Turkey in connection with the continuing crisis between Turkey and Russia which began with the downing of an SU-24 Russian bomber in Turkish airspace, the minister said during his visit to Kayseri.
Minister Elitaş also thanked Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, for his support in the safe transition of 300 Turkish trucks which had been waiting at the Russian border due to the Russian sanctions.
"Russian insists on taking the issue to an economic scale through embargoes, worsening the crisis," the Minister added.
Previously, Turkey's state-run Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) signed a deal with Qatar to purchase liqueified natural gas (LNG).
The newly-signed deal is expected to provide a long-term perspective to Turkey's efforts to import natural gas from Qatar through seasonal deals. “We discussed what sort of steps we can take forward after the crisis appeared between Turkey and Russia. We will take a step to store gas in the deal with Qatar," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement last week.
Relations between Turkey and Russia have been severely strained over the downing of an SU-24 Russian bomber in Turkish airspace.
Turkey stated that Russia violated its airspace and has refused to apologize for the action.
On December 1, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed off on a package of extensive economic sanctions against Turkey, including a ban on fruit and vegetable imports and travel and visa restrictions.
