Full gas flow from Iran will return in 10 to 15 days after the neighbor cut supplies last week, citing technical failures, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Wednesday.
The sudden stoppage in the flows through the eastern Ağrı province has forced Turkey to impose restrictions to limit gas use and cut electricity supplies for industrial sites, prompting some manufacturers to halt production.
Officials from the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and the state-run pipeline company BOTAŞ flew to Tehran this week on a mission to examine the issue and try to reverse the halt.
Erdoğan recalled that he spoke with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi at the weekend, stressing that Turkey asked Tehran to continue gas exports and postpone repair operations to summer, given the rough winter conditions.
Yet, Iran said it considered it risky to continue the flow and that it had no other choice but to bring down the gas pressure and exports.
"I think the flow of natural gas will continue in 10, to a maximum of 15, days," Erdoğan told an interview on private broadcaster NTV.
The president also strongly denied allegations that the stoppage resulted from Turkey’s debt to Iran.
"Any debt to Iran is out of the question. On the contrary, these allegations are lies," he said.
Erdoğan underscored that the government will continue to subsidize households’ electricity bills and added industry will use energy in a controlled way.
Turkey is almost fully dependent on imported gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. According to the latest official data, Iran alone provided 16% of Turkey’s natural gas needs in the first 10 months of 2021.
Energy prices have risen sharply in Turkey, driven by global increases and a decline in the lira’s value against the dollar last year.
Electricity prices were raised as much as 125% for high-demand commercial users this month and by around 50% for lower-demand households.
