The Anatolia news agency reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting in Istanbul with Alexei Miller, CEO of the Russian gas company Gazprom.
Anadolu Agency quoted Gazprom's account on the Telegram application as saying that the two parties discussed the supply of Russian gas to Turkey and the possibility of establishing a gas center there.
Last October, Erdogan said that he had ordered the Ministry of Energy to work on establishing a natural gas center in Turkey, a day after his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, suggested that Moscow could export more natural gas through Turkish territory and turn it into a new supply center.
At the time, Reuters news agency quoted Erdogan as saying in remarks to NTV that Ankara and Moscow would work immediately to implement Putin's proposal to transfer Russian gas through Turkey to the European continent.
Turkey seeks to establish an advanced international market for gas in the country (Anatolia)
The Turkish president suggested that the Thrace region in the northwest of the country would be the most suitable for the Russian president's proposal to establish an international center for gas distribution.
The Turkish president made it clear that the Turkish Ministry of Energy will work with the Russian side to study the establishment of the gas center and present the results.
Erdogan added that he had given instructions to Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, and that Putin had given instructions to Alexei Miller, head of Gazprom, and stressed that Turkey would take all necessary steps on the security level for the natural gas distribution center.
Prior to that, Putin said that Turkey provided the most reliable and reliable way to deliver gas to the European Union, and that the proposed platform (Turkey's gas hub) would allow prices to be set without the interference of politics.
The Russian president suggested that Turkey become a center for Russian gas for third parties, including Europe, by building a new pipeline and exchanging natural gas to set prices, according to the Russian news agency "Interfax".