Newspaper: Turkey wants to collaborate with Syria on oil and gas to supply power to Syria

Alparslan Bayraktar, the Energy Minister, was quoted as saying on Friday that Turkey wants to strengthen Syria's power infrastructure and provide electricity. Ankara could also work with Syria’s new leadership in oil and natural gas.

After supporting the Syrian rebels that toppled Bashar al-Assad after a 13 year civil war this month, Turkey has emerged to be one of the major power brokers in the southern neighbor and has pledged to help rebuild the nation.

Ankara, one of the earliest countries to reopen their embassy in Damascus and its de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met there with its Foreign Minister and Intelligence Chief.

Bayraktar told Turkish media that he was planning a trip to Syria to discuss electricity transmission and infrastructure.

In the first phase, we must import electricity and provide it to areas of Syria without electricity. We also plan to increase production capacity and set power of electricity in the medium term," Hurriyet reported him as saying.

"Everything is needed in Syria." "We will work with the leaders in Syria on the master plan for infrastructure," he said. He added that Turkey could send electricity to Lebanon through Syria.

Bayraktar said Ankara is working to use Syria's oil resources and natural gas for the country's rebuilding, since production of both has been significantly reduced during the war.

He was quoted as saying that "there are many topics which need to mature. From forming an oil pipe from Syria to Turkey to merging this with the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline," he said, adding Ankara could work together with Damascus on oil and gas in the future.

Bayraktar also said that Turkey is willing to work with other countries in the energy sector, particularly in Somalia where a Turkish drilling ship is exploring for hydrocarbons. He added, "there are offers". Can Sezer, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Daren Butler edited the article.

(source: Reuters)